To Change His Mind
by Wopsidaisy
Summary: Sakura and Kiba are helplessly in love, just not with each other. Instead Kiba yearns for his timid team mate that he knows is out of reach. Will Sakura be able to change his mind or will he be blind to her approaches?
1. Shirtless Jinchuuriki

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Summary: Sakura and Kiba are helplessly in love, just not with each other. Instead Kiba yearns for his timid team mate that he knows is out of reach. Will Sakura be able to change his mind or will he be blind to her approaches?**

**A/N: I'm not really getting anywhere with A Jinchuuriki's way, so therefore I'm going to start upload this one instead. It takes place one year before A Jinchuuriki's way, you do however not need to read AJW to understand this fanfic, nor the other way around. **

**To my new readers: I hope you will like this story**

**To my "old" readers: I hope you will like this one as much as A Jinchuuriki's way and that you're not too mad that I upload this instead of AJW '**

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**Chapter 1: Shirtless Jinchuuriki**

Sakura walked out of the Hokage building deep in thought.

The Kyuubi wasn't dead. It was just trapped. Inside of Naruto. Inside of her blond, loudmouthed, ramen-loving friend who had been abroad for two whole years.He was a Jinchuuriki and was housing the Kyuubi.

Suddenly she walked in to something hard.

As she looked up she realized she had walked right in to Kiba. He looked down at her with a smile.

"Hi there Sakura-san. Something troubling you?" he asked her.

That was when she realized that she was still standing there, basically pressed up against him. She jumped away quickly from him as she apologized.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention" she hurriedly explained. He laughed at her a little bit.

"He he, that's alright. I don't mind" he said as he scratched his neck, elbow sticking up in the air. Sakura heard a loud bark and looked down a little bit to see a happy Akamaru standing beside his master, tail wagging and everything.

"Hi Akamaru" she said as she bent down to scratch him behind his ears. The white dog happily leaned in to her hand at the sensation.

"Don't spoil him too much. He'll get too used to the attention" Kiba said jokingly.

"H-hi Sakura-san" Hinata said as she and Shino caught up to their third team mate.

"Hi Hinata-chan" Sakura replied as she stood up again.

"Shino-kun" she continued, turning to Shino. He nodded at her as greeting.

"So, what were you doing up there?" Kiba then asked her.

"I discussed something with Tsunade-shishou" she explained as she looked back at the brunette boy "You got a mission or something?" she asked him.

"Yeah, headed to the briefing now" he answered, smiling at her.

"We better get going. I hate being late" Shino then said.

"B-bye Sakura-san" Hinata said as team eight walked in to the building.

"Bye Sakura-san. See you" Kiba said as he walked after his team mates.

"Bye" she said to all of them before continuing away from the building.

Team eight had efficiently erased all thoughts about Naruto being a Jinchuuriki. Correction, Kiba had efficiently erased all thoughts about Naruto being a Jinchuuriki.

There was something about the Inuzuka boy. Even though she had thought that she would never ever miss the ruckus that followed Naruto, she did.

Two years of silence had almost pushed her to her limit and she needed noise and ruckus.

Still yet she wasn't able to make it herself. After she started to crave for some excitement – outside of her missions – she had realized that Kiba was somewhat like Naruto. That loudmouthed way that always made sure you never had a dull time around him.

_**Plus he's absolutely yummy**_ Inner Sakura shot in.

"Shut up" Sakura told her inner-self. Tired of her musings about how hot Kiba looked. She noticed the weird looks an older man gave her and realized that she had spoken out loud.

"Sorry" she said with a sheepish smile before hurrying away from there.

_**Wonder what was up his ass**_

'_Can't you be quiet?' _Sakura asked her inner-self tiredly. This time she made sure that she only thought the question in her head.

_**After literally walking in to Kiba? Hell no! **_Inner Sakura answered before starting her musings about the Inuzuka boy.

_**Wonder how he looks under all those clothes. I bet he looks real nice, being a shinobi and all. **_

'_Look at Chouji' _Sakura shot in, meaning that just because you were a shinobi didn't mean you had a nice body. Still yet she knew that Inner Sakura was probably right.

She just wished she knew, at the moment it was impossible to decide. Even though he didn't have the same clothes as when they started out as genins he still wore the same kind of big jacket.

Inner Sakura was still at it when 'they' reached 'their' home.

"I'm home" she called in to the house as she entered. To her surprise she didn't get any response at all.

"Weird" she said to herself as she walked further in to the house.

_**Not as weird that you still yet haven't made a move on Kiba**_ Inner Sakura informed deaf ears. When she entered the kitchen she saw something on the otherwise empty refrigerator. There on the white surface sat a note fastened with a magnet.

It read:

_Mommy and Daddy got an urgent mission and had to leave at once._

_- Love, Mommy_

Sakura sighed as she threw it away.

This was not something unusual when having your shinobi parents on the same team as each other.

She opened the fridge to search for food without any success. Instead she walked over to one of the cabins and took out a pack of cup ramen, a trait that she had started with because of Naruto's absence. She had gotten so used to ramen because of him that even now when he wasn't around she had to eat it.

Now when home again she allowed herself to think over the situation with Naruto and the Kyuubi.

When studying healing techniques earlier that day she had suddenly remembered Naruto's pretty unique ability to self-heal ridiculously fast. Being the medic nin that she was she immediately came up with the idea to do some tests on him when he came home from his training trip. First though she would need to talk to the Hokage. As the water heated up she thought back to when she had told the blond woman.

_Sakura had run to the Hokage building and up to Tsunade's office. When the door slammed open the Hokage's head had shot up from her desk, looking startled._

"_I wasn't sleeping" she claimed at the same time. Sakura had stopped with her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath so she barely noticed her shishou's reaction. When realizing what had actually happened Tsunade looked at Sakura confused for a while._

"_Where's the fire?" she asked the pink haired girl sarcastically._

"_I. Was. Thinking" Sakura told her, still breathing too heavily to speak properly. _

"_Okay, so you do think?" Tsunade asked her in false astonishment. Sakura's eyes turned in to slits as she glared at the woman._

"_Do you have to be so mean just because I woke you up?" she asked Tsunade. _

"_Just because you can't take a little sarcasm" Tsunade shot back with a snort. Sakura sighed as she shook her head._

"_Well, whatever" she then said with a wave of her hand, deciding to ignore Tsunade's mood at the moment. _

"_As I said, I was thinking" Sakura said again "I want to do some testing on Naruto" she told the woman._

"_Oka-" Tsunade started before she realized what Sakura had said. Her eyebrows creased in confusion as she looked at her apprentice with large eyes._

"_You what?" she asked her after a while._

"_I want to run some tests on Naruto" Sakura repeated herself._

"_What? Why?" Tsunade did clearly not see any reason for Sakura to run some tests on her blond friend and team mate._

"_Well, you know how he heals so quickly right? I was thinking that if we did some testing we might find some special super gene in him that we might be able to re-duplicate and use in some way" Sakura explained, somewhat pleased with herself for coming up with the idea. _

'_Oh shit' Tsunade thought, she knew that she wouldn't like this when Sakura started with out with how quickly Naruto heals._

"_I don't know really" she started to reply. Taking a moment to think she stalled by slowly placing her elbows on her desk. _

"_It's…Well, it's not really that easy Sakura" she then said after a while._

"_Why not? It should work, I mean it have been done before. I got the idea while reading this medical book and there it clearly said that-" Sakura started to argue. When Tsunade put up her hand in the air however – motioning for Sakura to stop – she went quiet. _

"_I know that it has been done before. It's just that it's not that simple when it comes to Naruto in special" Tsunade said, knowing that even this little information was probably too much. Sakura looked confused._

"_What do you mean shishou?" she asked after a while._

"_I'm sorry but it's not my place to tell you that" Tsunade decided to say after a while. She didn't want to say something like 'It's confidential' since it would make the thing too suspicious and Sakura would definitely want to know what was up with her friend. Sakura continued to look confused for a while before resolve took its place on her face instead._

"_Okay then shishou. I will just ask him instead when he comes back. Because you clearly don't want to tell me why I can't and I don't really need your approval, only his" Sakura then said, sounding smug, before pivoting on the spot and starting to walk towards the door._

"_Sakura, wait" Tsunade said, her voice stern. Sakura immediately turned around. The Hokage massaged the brink of her nose, feeling a major headache coming on._

"_I guess you leave me no choice. Knowing you, you won't listen to me even if I order you" after she had spoken she let go of her face and looked up at Sakura._

"_Have you ever heard of a Jinchuuriki?" she asked the younger girl._

_**Hey, the water's boiling**_ Inner Sakura suddenly interrupted the memory. Sakura jumped at the words that cut through her mind, and then she jumped again when she realized what they meant.

_**God you're jumpy. Just do something about the ramen instead of jumping **_Sakura rolled her eyes as she finished cooking the cup ramen.

'_Got too little time on your hands? Or maybe you're just completely worthless in the kitchen? Try cup ramen. The safe-proof solution for those lonely evenings' _Sakura thought to herself as she walked over to the couch.

"Itadakimasu" she said before breaking the chopsticks apart. When she was halfway through her meal the doorbell rang.

"Hey, open up forehead- girl" she could hear Ino scream from the other side of the door.

Sakura flinched at her high-pitched voice. Sighing she put her food on the living room table and walked over to the door and opened it to reveal her best friend and rival.

"Hi there" Ino said – sounding somewhat solemn – as she pushed Sakura aside and walked in without any invitation.

"Hi" Sakura said as she closed the door and walked after Ino in to the living room – seemingly not phased about Ino's lack of manners.

"You want some?" Sakura asked her as she took up her food and took another bite.

"Na, I'm on a diet" Ino replied. Sakura sighed, Ino and her ever diets. Like that skinny bitch even needed a diet.

"Okay" was what she said outwards before continuing her meal.

"You know how many calories that thing contains?" Ino asked her, seemingly disgusted.

"Nope" Sakura replied as she took another bite without hesitation.

"Well, a whole lot" Ino then told her, apparently not really knowing the answer to her own question.

Sakura looked at her for a while before taking even another bite.

"Mmm" she then said to express how much she enjoyed the bite.

"Calories" she said in the same pleased way after swallowing.

"You disgust me forehead-girl" Ino said.

"Yeah, I know Ino-pig" Sakura said with a giddy smile.

"By the way, how're things with Shikamaru?" Sakura then asked her friend, remembering about Ino's fairly new decision that she had a crush on the genius.

Ino's shoulders suddenly slumped as a look of disappointment came across her face.

"It's lost" she said.

"What?" Sakura asked her. She did however not make any attempt to comfort the girl, but just continued to sit back and eat her meal.

"He's on a mission to Suna. So I'll lose him to that sand bitch" she explained.

"Who?" Sakura asked her confused.

"You know, that bitch with the huge fan from the chuunin exams. Sister to that scary red haired kid" Ino explained. Realization dawned on Sakura's face.

"Oh, yeah, she. Okay, what is it with her?" Sakura then asked.

"There was always some strange tension between her and Shikamaru. And then they always acted like they knew each other perfectly despite just meeting" Ino said.

"Damn that bitch, what's her name… T something… Tanna, Tenma, Terhu" Ino mused.

"Temari" Sakura suggested.

"Yeah, Temari. That's the one" Ino said "Well, that bitch is probably going to get my man" she concluded sounding absolutely devastated.

"You'll get over it" Sakura claimed lightly as she got up to throw away her now empty packed of cup ramen.

"Would it hurt you to be a little nice here?" Ino asked her.

"Probably not" Sakura replied with a shrug as she sat down again on the couch. Ino just shook her head and chuckled a little bit at her friend. Sakura joined in the laughing.

* * *

The next morning she woke up to the sound of her alarm clock.

She groaned as she turned it off and turned around just to lie there for a little longer.

Her dreams had been really weird. She didn't really remember them exactly, only that they had involved a lot of ramen, huge fans and a shirtless Kiba.

At the moment she couldn't understand how those three things could ever fit together, even if she had tried to figure it out. Instead of trying to understand that she was too occupied with the image of a shirtless Kiba.

'_Wait a minute' _she thought after a while '_I was dreaming about Kiba' _she continued her incoherent trail of thought.

_**Congratulations, finally figured that one out? **_Inner Sakura asked her sarcastically.

'_No, I mean, I dreamt about Kiba' _Sakura 'said'.

_**Well, is it really that weird to dream about him? **_Inner Sakura asked as she started to drool at the memory of the dream.

_**Delicious **_Sakura could hear as she got out of bed, still yet somewhat phased over the fact that she had dreamt about Kiba, and a shirtless Kiba at that.

Luckily she didn't have to stand her inner self during her entire breakfast. Her other personality was at the moment too obsessed by the thought of a shirtless Kiba to bother her much.

When she was finished at home she walked to the hospital, today she was working there. Approximately she was working one week a month there as a part of her current training.

Once there she walked over to the front desk and the blond girl sitting there, chewing on a large piece of gum. The girl on the other side looked up when Sakura stopped in front of the desk.

"Good morning Haruno-sensei" she greeted her with a smile.

"Good morning Tayumi-san" Sakura greeted back as Tayumi did something on the computer.

"There you go, now you're officially here Haruno-sensei" Tayumi said as she stretched 

backwards for something and then came back with a patient's journal.

"Here's your first appointment for the day. Just a check up after a mission" she informed Sakura as she reached her the journal.

"Thanks Tayumi-san" Sakura said as she walked away from the desk without a glance at the chart.

She walked through the corridors in to a locker-room where she changed from her normal clothing to doctor's attire. Even if she wasn't fully educated yet she was still considered to be one of the better doctors at the hospital. Not something entirely surprising, being the Hokage's apprentice and all.

When she was done she checked the chart for which room her patient was in.

"Room 9" she said to herself as she walked out of the locker-room.

_**Room 9? You know 9 is my lucky number**_ Inner Sakura informed her, apparently she had now woken up from her Kiba induced haze.

'_Lucky me' _Sakura thought as she walked down the corridors to the elevators. She pressed on of the buttons and waited for the elevator.

_**Maybe you should think about what Ino said yesterday and take the stairs instead **_Inner Sakura suggested.

'_And why would I think about what Ino says?' _

_**Well you have been putting on weight**_

'_Shut up, as if you'd take the stairs if you were me' _

_**I am you **_Sakura didn't know what to retort to this so she was just quiet. It felt awful to lose an argue to yourself that way.

A 'pling' indicated that her elevator had come. She sighed happily at the sight.

To her dismay however a group of medics came rolling a bed before she could walk up to it. A seduced patient was lying on the bed and was probably in for surgery.Patients came before doctors, which meant that she could only go with this elevator if there would be room for her, something there of course wasn't.

So she had to happily step aside and let them in to the elevator and watch the doors close with her still on the outside.

Glancing at her watch she saw that she probably didn't have time to wait for another elevator, it would take shorter time to walk those stairs one floor up.

_**One floor? You were going to take the elevator one floor? **_Inner Sakura asked her shocked.

'_Yes, I was planning on doing that. I don't feel like walking' _Sakura answered, trying to keep as much dignity as possible, as she walked up the stairs.

_**You're impossible**_ Inner Sakura shook her head to Sakura in astonishment as Sakura walked down the corridor to room 9.

"Here we are" she said as she started to open the door with her back.

"Hello, my name's Haruno Sakura and I will be your doctor…" Sakura started as she backed through the door looking at the chart.

She stopped talking to read the patient's name for the first time since receiving the journal. When she saw it she stopped dead in her tracks with the door still open agape.

_Name: Inuzuka Kiba_

She looked up to see an already shirtless Kiba sitting there on the bed and suddenly her dream seemed way too close for comfort.

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**A/N: Just need to tell you, there wasn't really any shirtless Jinchuuriki in there.. I just mixed together the fact that Naruto is a Jinchuuriki and the whole Shirtless Kiba thing.. So no shirtless Jinchuuriki **

**Otherwise I hope you liked it, if so please review If not, please review**


	2. Toxic

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: I know, I should've uploaded earlier since I've written around ten chapters already anyway, but I got caught up in school, it's really hectic this year! Then it's even worse since it's such a short chapter.. Therefore I promise to upload the third chapter much much sooner than I uploaded this**

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** Chapter 2: Toxic**

Last time:

"_Hello, my name's Haruno Sakura and I will be your doctor…" Sakura started as she backed through the door looking at the chart. She stopped talking to read the patient's name for the first time since receiving the journal. When she saw it she stopped dead in her tracks with the door still open agape. _

Name: Inuzuka Kiba

_She looked up to see an already shirtless Kiba sitting there on the bed and suddenly her dream seemed way too close for comfort._

Sakura just stood there for a long time looking at him. After a while it seemed as if Kiba felt like squirming under her gaze.

_**Hell yeah! Now pounce on him! **_Inner Sakura ordered enthusiastically. And Sakura had to do everything in her power not to obey her inner-self.

"Ehm…" Kiba said after a while sounding slightly uncomfortable. At the sound of his voice Sakura snapped out of her haze and immediately tried to come up with an excuse.

_**You don't need an excuse, just attack him!**_ Sakura once again tried to do her best to ignore Inner Sakura.

"Kiba-kun. What happened? Didn't you go on a mission yesterday?" she said trying to sound as worried as possible as she entered the room. Now when she thought about it she was actually quite worried.

"Yeah, well it was a very short one but it became shorter than expected. We were only out to get a bug – we got the mission because of Shino. It wasn't hard to find it or anything but when I tried to catch it I was sprayed down by its poison" Kiba explained. Sakura looked at him with big eyes.

"What?" she asked him shocked before suddenly switching in to a higher gear.

"Then what are you doing sitting up? You should lie down!" she told him as she pushed him down on the bed easily with the help of her inhuman strength.

Fortunately for him he didn't fight back, if he had his ego would probably take a hit since she still would've done it easily.

After pushing him down Sakura quickly went over to a table to get the equipment she needed, she was back at his side before he even could blink. Only now she had a needle in her hand and was readying herself to use it.

"Hey, hey, hey" Kiba said as he basically tried to jump away. To his dismay Sakura was already holding him down and only needed a little bit of chakra to keep holding him down.

"Lay still, I need an example of your blood to see what kind of toxin we are talking about" she told him.

"That's not necessary" he tried to tell her.

"You're a Shinobi. You should be able to stand needles" she told him as she tried to make him lay still.

"That's not it" he said. Sakura sighed, she probably wasn't going to get any blood from him this way, so she let go of him and sat down instead.

"Okay then, why isn't it necessary?" she asked him. As she let go he sat up again.

"Well, because I had Shino there. He helped me get rid of the poison immediately with the help of his bugs" he explained. Sakura looked at him confused.

"Okay, then what are you doing here?" she asked him.

"Well, the Hokage forced me to do a check up as soon as she had read the mission report" he answered. Sakura looked down on the chart, and just as he said it only stood that he was there for a check-up.

"You could have said so to begin with instead of scaring me like that" she said, almost with a pout as she got up again.

"Well, you didn't give me much room to even breathe in" he said jokingly.

"Yeah, yeah. Well I'll still need to check some things. One of them being your blood" she then told him as she once again took up the needle.

After taking a blood example she listened to his heart and lungs.

"Well, you do seem fine. Just need to check your blood a little quickly before we can let you go" she said as she took up the chart and wrote some things in it. I smiled a crocked smile at her.

"Didn't I tell you so?" he asked her.

"I guess" she said as she pressed a button on the wall. Just a few seconds later a nurse entered the room (a/n: Talk about fast o.O).

"Hi there Hana-san. Could you please do a quick tests for toxins on this" Sakura asked the nurse.

"Of course Haruno-sensei" Hana answered as she took the little container with Kiba's blood.

"Thank you" Sakura said as Hana exited again. Sakura then sat down and waited as Kiba got dressed again.

_**Does he have to do that?**_ Inner Sakura asked.

"How long will that take?" he asked her when he was fully clothed again.

"It depends. If they find anything it will take longer since they will need to identify it. Otherwise it will take about ten minutes" she answered.

"Okay" he said before and uncomfortable silence took its presence.

"Soo" Kiba said after a while sounding very uncomfortable.

"I didn't really know you worked here" he then decided to say after a while.

"Yeah, well I work here one week every month as a part of my training" she answered.

"Yeah, right. I think I heard you were becoming a med nin" he told her.

"Yes I am" she answered proudly.

"Isn't that hard?" he asked her.

"Well, I do think it's a lot of fun but I guess Shishou is quite hard on me" she answered, sounding thoughtful.

_**Hard? She's god damn Hitler on us! **_He smiled at her and chuckled slightly.

"Yeah, I can imagine it would be hard to train under her. Still yet I envy you. Getting to train under the fifth Hokage" he said as he thought about the possibilities.

"Yeah, it's just that at the moment we're mostly training medical jutsus. So I'm worried that I'll get rusty when it comes to my fighting"

"You don't have anybody else to train with?" he asked her.

"No, you know with Naruto being away and all. And Kakashi-sensei isn't so good for more than one reason. 1. I mostly want somebody to spar with and he's too good to only spar with me. 2. He's constantly late and Shishou's been keeping me quite busy so I don't have the time for him being late and 3. He's too busy reading his damn porn" she counted the three things on her fingers. Kiba broke out in laughter at the last point and Sakura immediately joined in.

"Why don't you come train with us then?" he asked her when they finally had stopped laughing.

"I could do that? But what about Hinata-chan and Shino-kun?" Sakura asked him.

"Yeah, of course you can. They won't mind" he told her.

"Thanks Kiba-kun" she said sounding sincere. He smiled back at her as the door opened and the nurse came back in.

"We've got the results back Haruno-sensei" Hana informed Sakura.

"Okay, thanks Hana-san. What do they say?" she asked.

"The patient's still got some toxin left in his body but he doesn't need to stay here" Hana said.

"Okay thanks" Sakura said as she read through the chart Hana gave her.

"I guess I'll write you a prescription then Kiba-kun" she said as she picked up a pen.

"What kind of medicine will you get me?" he asked her.

"It's just something that's given to patients that have gotten infected by quite harmless toxins or as in your case only got a little bit left after cleaning" Sakura informed him as she wrote something down.

"Here you go Kiba-kun" she said as she gave him the note.

"Thanks Sakura-san. By the way we'll meet to train tomorrow morning at nine at training ground 8" he told her with a small wink before walking out of the room.

_**Yeah! **_Inner Sakura said as she punched the air and doing a victory dance.

_**It's a date**_ she then said after calming down.

'_I'm only going to train with him and his team' _Sakura informed her inner-self. Still yet she couldn't help to smile as she headed to the front desk to get her next patient.

**A/N: As I have started with in A Jinchuuriki's way I will now give a thank you to those who reviewed **

**So thank you HikaruOokami and phantomofthedarkness for your reviews**

**Please review, it really makes you feel all wonderful and giddy inside! **


	3. Distractions

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: Another chapter, and as promised it came earlier than the previous one... the question is if it came that much earlier -.-'**

**To those of you who read AJW, I'm sorry! I still haven't even got a page of the next chapter, I pretty much got it worked out in my mind. It's just that I can't find neither time nor creativity to write it down. Probably because of school, I've noticed that second year in upper secondary school is really tough with many lessons and long days, so I haven't really gotten used to that yet. Plus, I have no school computer, it has been in for service since the beginning of the semester, once I get that back I will have more time with a computer at all, which should mean that I will find more time to write as well**

* * *

** Chapter 3: Distraction**

As he was walking from the hospital Kiba read on the medicine he had gotten and especially how and how often he was supposed to take it.

_One pill thrice a day. Taken before every meal together with water or other fluid substance._

He hated the choice of words on these things. They always managed to make him feel stupid.

Putting the bottle back in his pocket he decided to ignore it for now. He headed towards the Aburame compound to meet Shino. They usually ate lunch together, sometimes with Hinata as well. Today however she had some clan business to attend to so only he and Shino were going.

"Hi there. Could you get Shino for me?" he asked the guards as he reached the compound. As usual they only nodded to him as a bug flew away from one of them and in to the compound area.

The first few times Kiba had been here he had made the mistake of trying to small talk with the guards. He had however soon learned that he really shouldn't even try. It just made him feel stupid and even more awkward since they never responded. Fortunately it didn't take long until Shino came walking out of the gates.

"Hi there" Kiba said with a nod as Shino came up to him. The bug user merely nodded as a greeting as they headed down the street.

As they reached the restaurant they took their seats at a window table (a/n: see 'A Jinchuuriki's way' chapter 7 .).

They ordered their food and it didn't take long until they got it.

"Itadakimasu" Kiba said and was just about to enthusiastically take the first bite when he remembered about the medicine.

"Yeah right" he said as he dug through his pocket and soon fished up the little bottle.

"What's that?" Shino asked him.

"Just some medicine Sakura-san wrote out to me. Apparently there was still some toxin left in my body and this thing will remove it" Kiba explained as he popped the pill in to his mouth and took a sip of water from his glass.

"You mean she claimed that my bugs didn't get all the poison?" Shino asked him, and in some way he managed to sound offended despite his monotone voice.

"Yeah" Kiba answered with a shrug, clearly oblivious about the fact that Shino seemed offended.

"Yea, 'bout Ghat" Kiba said, his mouth full of food. Shino looked up at him and patiently waited for him to swallow.

"I told Sakura-san that she could train with us tomorrow morning" he told him.

"Why did you do that?" Shino asked him.

"Well, she doesn't really have anybody at her level to train fighting with so I said she could train with us" Kiba said before taking another bite, knowing that Shino didn't really mean anything bad with his question despite the rude way of asking.

"Oh, okay. You talked to Hinata about it yet?" Shino asked him.

"Nope, not yet. I just came from the hospital" Kiba answered.

Even though he seemed calm he really felt a slight tug at the mention of Hinata.

He had gotten a crush on the shy Hyuuga girl and was at the moment doing everything within his power to get over it. It would be so much better if he just got over it for both him and Hinata.

She was hopelessly in love with Naruto and wouldn't give up anytime soon, so if Kiba didn't get over the crush anytime soon it would only end in a broken heart for him. Unfortunately it was easier said than done.

"Still yet not talking to her?" Shino asked him sounding indifferent.

"Nope" Kiba answered in the same way. As usual when on the same team Shino and Kiba had gotten close and was now best friends, basically knowing everything there was about the other person.

"It doesn't feel safe yet" Kiba continued to say, even though he wasn't very precise Shino understood exactly what he meant.

"I'm probably going to see her later today. I'll tell her" Shino offered.

"Thanks"

* * *

"Bye man" Kiba said to Shino as they parted outside of the restaurant.

Kiba started to head home. His mother was going to train him and Akamaru today.

He always felt divided before training with her. One part of him looked forward to it since he wanted to get stronger and he always enjoyed training with Akamaru.

Another part of him never looked forward to it since it meant having to train for his mother Inuzuka Tsume. She wasn't a top dog trainer for nothing. It was a known fact that she was hard when it came to training. And just because Kiba was her son didn't mean that she went easier on him than other. More like the opposite.

As usual he stopped as he walked by Konoha Park, it was spring and the Sakura trees were in full blossom. He loved their smell at this time of the year. There was something about that just made him relax by the heavy and sweet scent. He breathed in heavily and felt how the scent tickled his nose. Then he breathed out pleased before looking at them almost mesmerized.

The Park was full of the trees and they in turn were filled with the small pink flowers. The air was filled with small flower petals that blew in the air as they glided down towards the ground. As he looked at them the thought of how romantic the whole sight was struck him and he immediately thought of Hinata.

"H-hi K-kiba-kun" he could hear from behind him. His eyes shot open fully at the sound.

'_Oh shit. She just had to be here. Didn't she?' _He asked himself. He quickly turned around, forcefully plastering a smile on his face.

Surprisingly enough he hadn't smelled her coming, probably it was because of the heavy scent from the Sakura trees.

"Hi there Hinata" he said sounding over enthusiastically.

He had barely managed to push out the words. And all thanks to the fact that he had basically said them all before seeing her.

She looked so good standing there. Those cute lavender eyes and that long silky hair. That cute way she dressed, some people only thought that it was bulky and awkward. Kiba on the other hand thought that is was so cute.

Then it was her smell, she smelled of strawberries and jasmin in such a sweet mix.

"W-what are you d-doing?" she asked him.

The wind blew up a bang of hair in her face, he was so tempted to just reach out his hand and brush it away.

That wouldn't be so bad would it?

He would just brush a bang out of her face. He knew that they were good enough friends for him to do it without it having to mean anything. Still yet he knew that he would do it only so that he could brush his hand against her face. Her cute innocent face that so often blushed deep red… as soon as Naruto was mentioned.

"Nothing just relaxing a little bit. You know I'm sorry but I really have to hurry. I promised mom that I would train for her today" he told her quickly as he pointed to where he was going. Before she could say anything more he had disappeared.

"That was too close" he told himself as he hurried down the street away from her and all temptations resolving her.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a loud bark. As he looked up he could see Akamaru dart towards him. Without even noticing it Kiba had entered the area of the Inuzuka compound and was already home. He happily greeted Akamaru.

"Hi there pup" he could hear someone call out. As he looked up his mother Tsume stood there with her dog partner Kuromaru.

"Hi mom" Kiba said as he walked up the aisle towards their house.

"You ready for some training?" she asked him

"Always ready" he replied.

* * *

"You're not even trying" Tsume screamed at Kiba.

Today Tsume had decided that Kiba and Akamaru were ready for a match against her and Kuromaru. Kiba was however still too distracted by thoughts of Hinata to focus properly.

At the moment Tsume had told them to take a pause so she could correct some of Kiba's mistakes, or more like scream at him for being weak. Kiba didn't answer her comment.

"What's wrong with you? You come home smelling all anxious and disturbed when you're going to train and then you merely try" she continued.

Kiba knew she was right, it had gone anything but good for him and Akamaru, all thanks to him.

He had barely noticed several of Tsume's sneak attacks and every time Akamaru had saved him in some way, that way the white dog had lost his own concentration on Kuromaru and gotten hit. Kiba looked at Akamaru as the white dog was licking his wounds and felt the guilt burn in him.

"You know how many times you and Akamaru would have died out there if this had been a real battle?" she continued screaming at him. Kiba still didn't answer her. Tsume sighed, she usually got a response from him already when she told him that he wasn't even trying. So something must really be bothering him right now.

"Okay then, what's bothering you pup?" she asked him as she sat down next to him. He sighed once as well before he started to explain.

"I like this girl" he said after a while.

"Okay, and how's that bad?" she asked him.

"Because she's in love with this other guy and will must assuredly not let go of those feelings" Kiba said.

"Okay, well have you tried to tell her?" she asked him.

"No, there's no idea. She doesn't only like him, she loves that guy. She might not understand so herself, but she does. So if I tell her I'll just end up breaking my own heart, plus I'll put her in a very awkward situation. A situation she definitely won't be able to handle" He explained.

"Oh, I see" Tsume nodded.

"Well, too bad, Hinata's really cute" she then said. Kiba looked at her confused.

"How, did, you?" he asked her. She smiled at him.

"It would be obvious to any mother" she said as she ruffled his hair and chuckled a little bit.

"But no more of that right now. You need to concentrate now" she then said sounding stern before they continued to train.

* * *

When they got home again Kiba went directly to the cupboard and got out a glass and gulped down water. Tsume went over to the table and sat down.

"You two did better. You were still too distracted though" she told Kiba. At the moment he was too busy gulping down the water to answer.

"You're just in time for food" Hana said as she stood at the stove cooking. The scent of the food was delicious in Kiba's nose.

"Smells good nee-chan" he said as she put down the food on the table.

"Thanks" Hana said as she ruffled his hair in the same fashion Tsume had earlier.

"Hey, hey. What is it with you two and my hair?" he asked them as he tried to correct it.

Both Hana and Tsume laughed at him as they sat down at the table.

Kiba took up the bottle with the medicine and popped another pill in to his mouth and drank some more water.

"Hey, what's that?" Tsume asked him, almost sounding angry as she snapped the bottle from his hands.

"It's just medicine for the toxin yesterday" he said as he tried to get it back.

"Didn't Shino remove that?" Tsume asked him as she held on to the bottle.

"Yes, but at the hospital they said that some of it was left so Sakura-san wrote a prescription for that" he said as he gave up on his tries to get back the bottle.

"Sakura-san?" Tsume asked him.

"Haruno Sakura. Apprentice of the Godaime Hokage and earlier a part of the infamous team 7" Hana informed them as she took a bite of the food.

"You know this Sakura?" Tsume asked her daughter.

"I've met her a few times when I picked up medicine for the clinic at the hospital" Hana said with a shrug.

"Okay, well is she any good? I don't want Kiba to eat some shit that some amateur thought that he needed" Tsume asked her daughter.

"Haruno-sensei is considered to be one of the best doctors at the hospital" Hana explained.

"Really?" Tsume asked her. In her surprise she didn't notice how Kiba snapped back the bottle from her hand.

"Have I ever seen her?" Tsume then asked Hana.

"I don't know mother. Have you ever seen a girl Kiba's age with pink hair?" Hana asked her.

"I don't know, I don't think about that stuff" Tsume said with a shrug.

"Wait a minute? You said she was Kiba's age? And what's with that way of calling me _mother_" she then asked her daughter surprised. Hana sighed heavily once.

"Yes mother, she's Kiba's age. They participated in the same chuunin exams. Twice" Hana said.

"Oh. She's a kunoichi? Then what is she doing at the hospital?" Tsume asked.

"It's a part of her training to become a med nin" Kiba said. Tsume's head snapped to Kiba.

"How do you know that?"

"She told me so today. Now could you please stop the twenty questions so we can eat?" Kiba asked her.

"I don't think I've had all of my twenty questions yet. Have I?" she then asked Hana.

"Eight left" Hana answered subconsciously.

"Okay, could you please stop it with the twelve questions? I want to eat" Kiba then said.

"Okay, okay. Talk about touchy. I was just curious" she said, clearly offended.

"We know you didn't mean anything with it mom" Hana said, still not really sounding interested.

"But how can she-" Tsume started after a while.

"Mom" Both Kiba and Hana said at the same time.

"Okay, sheesh" Tsume said.

* * *

The next morning Kiba groaned as the alarm woke him. He hurried to get up and hoped that something would happen that could distract him today at training, he didn't really feel like training with Hinata.

"Mornin' nee-chan" he said as he entered the kitchen and saw Hana sit there at the table and eat her breakfast.

"Mornin'" she answered without looking up from the newspaper she was reading. She waited to look up until a sat down at the table.

"Let me see that" she said as she motioned for the bottle with the medicine.

"Okay" he said and handed her the bottle.

"Will you meet Haruno-sensei anytime soon?" she asked him as she read on the label.

"Yeah. She's going to train with me, Shino and Hinata today" he answered.

"Really?" she asked him and looked up.

"Yeah"

"Okay, well can you ask her if you can use this on animals for me? I don't have much of a stock when it comes to poison killers at the clinic" she asked and explained.

"Yeah, of course" he said.

"Thanks. By the way. Are you close friends with Haruno-sensei? Since she is going to train with you" Hana then asked him. Kiba shrugged.

"She didn't have anybody to train with so I offered her to train with us yesterday" he told her.

"Okay" for some reason Hana found that answer satisfactory.

When Kiba reached the training grounds they were empty except for one person. Apparently Sakura had woken up early and decided to warm up before the rest of them.

* * *

**A/N: So, what do you think? At least it's longer than the previous chapter ;)**

**And now, a little thank you to my lovely reviewers **

**Wobbrocker, HikaruOokami, Awiii and phantomofthedarkness, thank you for your reviews! **

**Please review … or review again! **


	4. Training with him

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: Yeah, I know I should've updated sooner. I just never thought about it, school's really, really hectic right know. Haven't really gotten used to the workload yet.**

**So, to those of you who wants another chapter of **_"A Jinchuuriki's way"_** I've got "good" news and "bad" news. I have written far more on the next chapter since last time, plus I kind of knows what's gonna be in the rest of it, I just can't seem to find the time and inspiration to actually write it down.**

**Chapter 4: Training with him**

* * *

That morning Sakura had been woken at 4.30 a.m. by a phone call from a very drunk Hokage.

After almost forty minutes Sakura managed to understand that Tsunade had locked herself out of her home, also known as the Hokage building.

Being as drunk as she had been meant that she didn't think of the fact that the building had several entries, and living in peaceful Konoha with that many guards basically meant that no doors were ever locked.

Sakura had tried to tell her drunken Shishou this, but Tsunade had of course not understood what she meant.

Because of that Sakura had went from her home at 5.30 a.m. that morning and had returned at around 7.00 a.m.

At that point she was already so awake that she decided to have breakfast and then just go to the training ground to warm up early.

_**Damn Shishou! **_Inner Sakura yawned tiredly as Sakura headed for the training grounds.

_**I mean, who gets that drunk on a Wednesday evening?**_ Inner Sakura asked after a while.

'_She's the Hokage. She never has vacation so it doesn't matter which day it is to her' _Sakura answered as she stretched once.

Even though she somewhat defended Tsunade she couldn't help but agree with Inner Sakura.

_**Do we really have to do this? Can't we just go back to sleep? **_Inner Sakura asked as Sakura reached the training grounds.

'_We told Kiba-kun that we would be here' _Sakura answered as she started to stretch. At the mention of Kiba Inner Sakura peeked up.

_**Yeah right, we have a date **_she said enthusiastically.

'_No, we don't have date. We are going to train with him and his team' _Sakura corrected as she wished that it was a date.

_**Details**_ Inner Sakura waved it off as Sakura started to jog around the field.

_**Do you have to go so fast? We'll stink of sweat when Kiba come here. **_Inner Sakura complained after a few laps.

'_So?' _Sakura asked her, still yet she ran a little bit slower. When she finished jogging she did sit-ups and push-ups for a while.

After that she finished it off with stretching again.

It was when she was sitting with her legs out to the sides and leaning forward towards the ground that she heard a loud bark.

She looked up towards it – without getting up from her stretching position – and saw Akamaru coming darting towards her.

"Hi there" she said as she greeted him – still sitting with her legs out towards the sides. He barked at her as she started to scratch him behind his ears.

"Didn't I tell you not to spoil him like that?" Kiba asked her jokingly as he came up to them. She laughed at him.

"I guess you did" she answered before getting up.

"So, couldn't wait to train or what?" he asked her. She laughed sheepishly.

"Well, I was woken up very early by a phone call. And when I finally was finished with this thing it was too late for me to go back to sleep" she explained.

"Okay, who woke you up then?" he asked her "Your boyfriend calling in the middle of the night?" he added in a teasing way.

_**Is he trying to figure out if we got a boyfriend? **_Inner Sakura asked sounding ridiculously happy.

"No, it was shishou, she was so drunk that she had managed to lock herself out of the Hokage building. Despite the numerous amounts of unlocked doors" Sakura answered. Kiba immediately started to laugh.

"That's just too much" he said after a while.

"Yeah, well that's my shishou, and as usual I'm the one that has to handle her" Sakura said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"But don't tell that to anyone. It wouldn't be good if too many knew that the Hokage locked herself out" Sakura then said after a while.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't be good if everybody knew that she got that drunk in the first place" he replied.

"No, that's alright. Practically everybody already knows that anyway" Sakura said with a wave of her hand. Kiba chocked at the statement.

Sakura could see how Hinata and Shino came walking, Kiba was standing with his back towards them at the moment.

"G-good m-morning guys" Hinata called out to them before Sakura could. At the sound of Hinata's voice she could see how Kiba palpably tensed.

"Good morning" Sakura greeted back enthusiastically. Suddenly Kiba turned around quickly.

"Good morning Hinata" he said, sounding happy. Sakura could even hear the false smile.

"Shino" he then said still sounding overenthusiastic.

Shino didn't even nod to him but merely looked at him. Sakura guessed that if his face would've been visible you could probably see the weird looks he gave Kiba.

Suddenly an awkward silence took its place and Sakura felt really uncomfortable, afraid that it was because of her presence.

"Well, should we get started? What do you usually do?" she asked them after a while, trying to break the silence.

"Well, that's a very interesting question" Kiba said as he quickly turned towards Sakura, he sounded slightly out-of-breath.

_**What's wrong with him? **_Inner Sakura asked when seeing how over the top Kiba acted.

"It is?" Sakura asked him a little insecure as she felt slightly afraid.

'_I don't know. But somehow he seems speeded' _she answered Inner Sakura in her thoughts.

"Yeah, of course" he answered before turning to Shino.

"So, what should we do?" he asked Shino in that same out-of-breath way. Sakura could almost see how Shino sighed and shook his head.

"You and I can go over there and spar while Hinata and Sakura can spar over there" Shino answered after a while in hit monotone voice while motioning to two places far from each other.

_**Damn! I wanted to train with Kiba. **_Inner Sakura said with a pout as Sakura did her best to ignore her.

"Okay" Kiba said with a smile. Sakura thought that she could see him mouth a thank you to Shino as Hinata came walking towards her.

"H-hi S-sakura-san" Hinata said with a smile.

"Hi Hinata-chan" Sakura smiled back before they started to walk over to their spot.

"So, should we start this then" Sakura said.

"H-hai" Hinata answered before sinking in to the Jyuuken stance.

Sakura started by slamming her hand hard in to the ground, creating a large crack that raced towards Hinata.

The Hyuuga girl leapt up in to the air before it could reach her.

Sakura followed Hinata with her gaze as she jumped over Sakura and then landed next to her, facing the pink haired girl.

When Sakura saw Hinata's incoming Jyuuken punch she quickly grabbed a hold of her hand and stopped the punch before it could hit her.

The next second she yanked Hinata forward and managed to land a punch in her abandonment. Since they were only training Sakura didn't use any chakra in her punches, at least not when she punched at Hinata.

Still yet the punch was hard enough for Hinata to lose her breath and fall down on the ground. Before she could even fall down fully Sakura landed a kick on her so she flew across the field. Sakura then stood there and waited for Hinata to get up.

'_Did I do too much?' _She wondered anxiously as she watched Hinata.

_**Naa, she's tougher than she looks **_Inner Sakura answered confidently.

And the next moment Hinata jumped up from the ground and darted towards Sakura. She barely had the time to react before Hinata was at her side and landed a hit in her side.

"Jyuuken" Hinata screamed out as she did.

At first Sakura didn't understand, what she knew you didn't have to say anything to use the Jyuuken fist.

Then she understood.

Hinata screamed out Jyuuken to mark that it was counted as a Jyuuken hit even though it wasn't in reality.

Sakura quickly jumped back from Hinata so she wouldn't get more chances to land hits on her. It didn't take many of those hits to actually kill a person.

Hinata however quickly darted forwards, after Sakura, forcing her to continue on backwards.

To her dismay Sakura soon felt a tree against her back that hindered her in her way. She could see how Hinata quickly was darting towards her, punch ready.

So she did the only thing she could think off, she quickly punched the ground in front of her.

The ruined ground efficiently stopped Hinata in her attack and forced her to jump up high not to get hurt by the shaking ground.

Sakura hurried after, jumping from rock to rock until she got high enough and jumped out towards Hinata, grabbing the girl in the air in a tight body-lock.

When they landed some way from there they started to roll around on the ground.

Sakura managed to come up on top of Hinata and sat up, straddling the Hyuuga girl.

As soon she had to sit up she raised her hand and brought it down hard at the side of Hinata's face.

The other girl laid there, breathing heavily and looking at Sakura with large eyes filled of fear.

Sakura held her breath before breathing out heavily after a while as a smile took a place on her face. The next second she rolled off of Hinata and lay down at Hinata's side.

"That was fun" Sakura said after a while through her breaths.

"Yeah" Hinata answered, Sakura could hear the smile on Hinata's lips. After a while Sakura got up and offered Hinata a hand.

The two girls then walked together to watch the two guy's match. At the moment the two of them was in the middle of a tai-jutsu part of the match.

As they broke away both of them were breathing heavily.

Sakura could see how Kiba held up one of his hands before he started to jog over to them.

"Hi girls" he said with a smile. Sakura could sense how Inner Sakura melted away at the sight.

"H-hi Kiba" Hinata answered as she sat down on the ground next to Sakura who had already taken her seat.

"Hi Kiba-kun" Sakura said as she watched how he took of his jacket.

Suddenly it was like in the movies when everything goes in slow motion only so that you would be able to see every detail of the wonderful view.

Kiba was wearing a tight mesh shirt under the bulky jacket, the thing showed off his every little muscle.

He looked absolutely delicious.

With that thin coat of sweat that made his skin glisten in that wonderful way.

If Sakura would have to choose between him and all-chocolate-you-can-eat she would definitely choose him.

She couldn't help but stare at him as he jogged back out on the field to continue the match.

"S-sakura-san?" Hinata said after a while. Sakura snapped out of her trance and looked over at Hinata, sipping up the drool again.

"What?" she asked Hinata.

"I-is something wrong?" Hinata asked her.

"No, absolutely not! Why would something be wrong?" She asked her, suddenly sounding out-of-breath in the same way Kiba had earlier.

"Y-you were st-staring at K-kiba" Hinata answered.

"I was?" Sakura asked her.

"Yes" Hinata answered as she nodded.

"Well, nothing's wrong…" she started as she turned her head back towards Kiba and Shino's match. At the sight of Kiba however she lost her trail of thought somewhat.

"with … me" she managed to press out after a while.

"Y-you like him do-don't you?" Hinata asked her. Sakura once again snapped out of her haze and looked back at Hinata.

"Who?" she asked her. Hinata giggled slightly

"Kiba of course" she answered.

"What makes you think that?" Sakura asked her.

"I-it's quite obvious" Hinata answered.

"It is?" Sakura almost groaned.

"Yes" Hinata answered.

Sakura sensed that she was just about to ask something more when Shino and Kiba broke off and started to walk towards them.

Sakura felt extremely grateful for that, she didn't feel like answering Hinata's questions. She hadn't even told Ino about it yet.

"Already finished?" Sakura asked them as they neared the two girls.

"Yeah, well with the match" Kiba answered as he came up to them and sat down next to Sakura.

"Okay, well how did it go?" she asked him.

"Ah, you know" he said with a shrug, something about the way he said it told Sakura that he lost but didn't want to admit it.

"It didn't take very long. I think we should have one more match" Shino said to them in his monotone voice.

"O-okay. The s-same pairs?" Hinata asked.

"No" Shino started. Sakura saw how Kiba tensed slightly.

"Kiba and Sakura-san can stay here while you and I go over there" Shino then added. Sakura saw how Kiba relaxed again. What was up with that?

_**Yeah! We get to train with Kiba. **_Inner Sakura exclaimed as she punched in the air.

"I guess it's you and me then" Sakura said to Kiba.

"Yeah, it seems so" Kiba said as he got up.

"You know what?" he then said as he turned back to her sitting form.

"Let's make this a normal tai-jutsu fight. Just between the two of us" He suggested to her.

"Okay" she answered as she got up from her seat.

"Good. Akamaru stay there" he then told the big white dog as he and Sakura headed out on the field. Once there Sakura stretched slightly, rolling her joints.

"So, how about chakra?" she asked him during her stretching.

"As little as possible" he answered quickly as he too stretched.

"Okay" Sakura answered.

It didn't feel very good, even though she used punches with inhuman strength it was thanks to her chakra control.

If they weren't chakra infused they weren't much stronger than somebody else's normal punch, and her entire style of fighting was built upon those chakra infused punches.

They didn't take long until they started their fight. Sakura went out hard and forced Kiba to start backing up.

To her surprise however he grabbed her and fell backward, during the fall he put his feet at her stomach and kicked her away from himself. As Sakura went sailing through the air he continued the back-roll and ended up standing while she ended up lying on the ground.

"Shit" she said to herself as she pushed herself off the ground and turned to face him.

Once again she was surprised as he was already darting towards her. She didn't have the time to do anything until he was already at her side and suddenly it was he who forced her to back up.

As she backed up she thought over the situation and especially about the chakra thing.

He hadn't said 'no chakra' only 'little chakra'.

She smirked a little bit as she stopped one of his punches by grabbing the hand.

She used a tiny amount of chakra to make sure that she would be able to stop him.

He looked shocked at her and didn't notice her next move.

She didn't even take a second to bring up her leg and kick him in the side hard so that he now went sailing through the air.

Before he could even land properly she darted after him, planning to hit him while still lying down, ending this match in the same fashion as the previous one against Hinata.

However, when she brought down her fist over his face he rolled to the side before she could "hit" him.

He then quickly stood up.

She had become so unbalanced by the shock and the fact that her fist had gone all the way down that she didn't have time to get up before he did.

Kiba then jumped at her as he pulled out a kunai at the same time. He then straddled her and brought the kunai up to her throat. There he stopped, breathing heavily.

"I win" he claimed as he sat there on top of her. At the moment Sakura wasn't able to form a coherent thought. Inner Sakura wasn't even able to do anything. Kiba was straddling her.

"Eeh" she managed to press out. Luckily for her Kiba thought that he was somewhat strangling her with the kunai so he quickly jumped off of her.

"Sorry" he said. As he did she took a deep breath to calm herself.

'_Kiba was just straddling me' _

"Yeah, you did" she managed to say after a while.

She still hadn't looked at him since he jumped off of her, she was quite sure that she was blushing and didn't want to risk him seeing that. He chuckled at her as he got up and offered her a hand.

'_Damn it. I managed to not think about it during the whole match. And then I fade out like that' _She though, angry at herself as she took the offered hand.

It turned out that Hinata and Shino had already finished as they came walking. The time was now about twelve and it was lunchtime.

"So, anybody of you who wants to go out and eat lunch?" Kiba asked them all.

"I-I'm sorry Kiba. I've got c-clan business" Hinata said.

"Okay, you Shino?" Kiba continued to ask.

"Sorry, father wanted to talk about something" Shino answered in his monotone voice.

"Okay" Kiba answered.

"You Sakura?" he then asked as he turned to Sakura. She felt a little leap of joy inside. At first she had thought that he wasn't going to ask her since she wasn't a part of their team.

"Or do you have to be at the hospital?" he asked her when he didn't get any answer at first.

"No, I'm not due until three so I'll eat with you" she answered with a smile.

"Okay" he smiled back at her and she felt how she almost melted.

* * *

**A/N: I hope the fighting scenes are okay! I don't really consider myself particularly good at them, so fortunately for me this fanfic won't really have much of those **

**Now, a thank you to HikaruOokami, Rohain Tahquil, Lasino73 and shadywon08 for your lovely reviews **

**To HikaruOokami, you requested more romance between Sakura and Kiba, I'm sorry but I that won't really happen yet. As you know Kiba is really in love with Hinata and is desperately trying to get over her. Plus, this fanfic is practically prewritten, I have written around 10 chapters already… and basically got the rest of it already figured out. Even though I understand your request **


	5. Girlfriend?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: Another chapter here now **

**Probably should've updated earlier but for some reason I just didn't. Guess I didn't really find the time for it'**

* * *

Chapter 5: Girlfriend?

Before Kiba and Sakura left the training ground he thanked Shino one last time.

"Thanks man" he said as Hinata and Sakura said their good byes – out of hearing reach.

"No problem" Shino answered in his monotone voice.

Kiba remembered how he had felt in the beginning before he had gotten used to Shino's tone. Imagine saying thanks to somebody and they sound that monotone. Or even worse; getting a thank you _from _that person! Worst of all was probably the first time Shino had apologized for something, it didn't even feel as if he meant it, even though he had.

Kiba then hurried away to the edge of the training ground and stopped there to wait for Sakura. Soon he could see her coming walking, to his dismay Hinata walked with her.

"B-bye Kiba" Hinata said as they neared.

"Bye Hinata. You coming Sakura-san?" he hurried to ask so he could get away from Hinata. Being a part of her team would probably start wearing on his nerves soon.

"Yeah I'm coming" Sakura answered before she turned and screamed a good bye to Shino who was walking towards them. Knowing how little he usually talked she didn't wait for a response before turning back to Kiba.

The dog boy had already started to walk at that point. He just wanted to get away from Hinata's presence.

"So, what should we eat?" Sakura asked him as she reached him.

"I don't know. What do you want?" he asked her.

"Hmm…" Sakura said as she thought it over. Kiba felt how he started to relax, Hinata wasn't around and Sakura was really easy to be around. It didn't feel like he had to care about how he acted, she would just accept it anyway.

"What about … snails?" she asked him.

"Okay ..wait, what?" he asked her when he realized what she had suggested. She immediately laughed.

"I just wanted to see your reaction" she said. He laughed a little with her as he shook his head.

"That's just weird" he said.

"Yeah, I know" she said with a little laugh before continuing to think.

"You know what" he said after a while, bringing her out of her deep thoughts.

"I know this place that's good. Me and Shino go there all the time" he offered.

"Okay" she said, smiling at him. He smiled back before he could help himself. There was something about her smile that just made everybody else around her smile as well.

"Hey, where's Akamaru?" Sakura asked after a while. Kiba chuckled a little bit.

"You didn't notice until now?" he asked her.

"No" she answered with a sheepish smile.

"Seriously? Despite the way he's asking you for attention all the time?" Kiba asked her. She just shook her head. Kiba chuckled a little more as he too shook his head.

"I told him to go home earlier as you said good bye to Hinata" he explained to her.

"Oh, okay" she answered.

"But seriously, you always give him so much attention that he's always bugging you for more and you still yet didn't notice?"

It didn't take long until they reached the restaurant and went in to eat. They took their seats and waited for the waiter. An older woman soon came up to the table with a smile and looked at them.

"Are you and your girlfriend ready to order?" she asked Kiba.

In the corner of his eyes he could see how Sakura flinched slightly at the waiter's assumption. For some reason he felt bad because of that. He wasn't interested in Sakura, but was really the idea of having him as a boyfriend that repulsing?

"Yeah, we are" he answered. He didn't know what made him do it, probably her flinch. After they had gotten their water and made their orders Sakura looked at him questioningly.

"Girlfriend?" she asked him. He just shrugged.

"I'm tired of correcting them. Do you know how many times I've been asked that when I ate lunch with Hinata?" he asked her.

"Ah, okay" she said, clearly understanding.

One part of him actually wished that it would've been Hinata sitting there. Just the thought of other people thinking of him and Hinata as a couple felt good. Still yet he knew that it wouldn't help him in any way to get over her.

Instead of thinking about it any more he took out the little bottle of pills.

"Ah, you're taking it" she said as she motioned to the bottle.

"Yeah, of course. I did have poison left in me didn't I?" he asked her before popping in the pill to his mouth.

"Yeah, well. Many shinobi doesn't find it necessary to take their medicine since they didn't even want to go to the hospital in the first place" she said with a little shrug.

"You think I'm that kind of person?" he asked her.

"I didn't know. Now however I know you're not" she answered as she looked him deep in the eyes. Something about her jade green eyes made him hold her gaze and stare deep in to her eyes. They were actually quite beautiful.

"I like your eyes" he said thoughtfully after a while.

When he realized what he said he felt like slamming his hands over his mouth. He did however manage to resist the urge. Now all he could was to hope that Sakura wouldn't take it the wrong way. Fortunately she just smiled back at him.

"Thanks" she said after a while. Then the waitress came back with their food.

"Here you go" she said as she put down their food and smiled at them both.

"Itadakimasu" Sakura said before breaking apart her chopsticks and taking a bite.

"Yeah, right. Hana-neechan wondered if you can use this on animals" Kiba asked her when he suddenly remembered his sister's question.

Sakura looked up from her food at the bottle Kiba was holding up. She took a second to chew and swallow before answering.

"I think so but I'm not sure. I can check it when I get to work and then I'll tell you later" she answered.

"Thanks. Apparently she was low on poison killers at the clinic" he explained before he as well started to eat.

"You did well out there" he suddenly said in the middle of the meal.

"Huh?"

"During the training" he explained.

"Oh, thanks. You too" she said a little sheepishly.

"By the way. I never asked. But how did it go against Hinata?" he asked her.

"I won" she said before taking a bite.

"You did?" he asked her somewhat surprised. Hinata was far stronger than most people thought. The part of him he was trying to repress felt a twinge at the mention of Hinata losing. What if Hinata had gotten hurt?

"Yeah, you know that move I did at the end of our match? When you were lying on the ground and I was going to hit you in the face?" Sakura asked him.

"Yeah" he answered.

"I did that on her. Only that time I was straddling her so she couldn't move away" she told him. Suddenly a very sexy picture of Sakura straddling Hinata came up in his mind.

"Oh, okay" he said, unsure what to say otherwise. Also afraid that something entirely wrong would come out if he tried to say something longer.

"What?" she asked him after a long silence during which he had just stared out in space.

"What?" he asked her.

"What is it?" she asked him again.

"Nothing. Who do you ask?" he asked her.

"Because you were sitting staring out in space" she answered.

"I did? Well, nothing's wrong" he answered her. Still yet the images of Sakura and Hinata lingered in his mind as he continued to eat.

"By the way" Sakura started after a little silence filled with the sound of their eating.

"Yeah?" Kiba asked as he looked up at her.

"If you come to the hospital tomorrow afternoon I can tell you about the medicine and we can check if the poison's out. It should be by then" she told him.

"Okay, cool" he said with a nod and smile. He noticed how she pretty quickly smiled back at him.

There was something about her smile that made the images of her straddling Hinata once again resurface.

He quickly looked down at his food and finished eating quickly so the images wouldn't linger. Or at least they wouldn't evolve while he was looking at her – she would most assuredly understand that something was wrong in that case.

When he dared to look up again he saw that she also had finished so he called for the waitress.

"You two want something else?" she asked them.

"No, I'll just pay now" Kiba told her.

"Okay, let me just get the tab" She answered as she walked away from the table. Kiba could see how Sakura started to dig through one of her pouches.

"Hey, it's alright I'll pay for it" he told her. She froze and looked up at him.

"No, that's alright I'll pay for me" she replied.

"No, they think we're couple anyway" he said.

"You know that just because you're a couple doesn't mean that you have to pay for me as well" she answered, still yet he could see that she had stopped digging for money.

"I'm happy to do it. Honey" he said, adding the last part a little teasingly. She just smiled and shook her head at him as she obliged and let him pay.

* * *

"You're going to the hospital?" he asked her as they exited the restaurant.

"Yeah. I need to work" she answered.

"Okay, you want me to walk you?" he asked her.

"You don't have to do that" she told him.

"Naa, that's alright. I don't have anything to do anyway" he said as they started to walk down the street towards the hospital.

"How is it, working at the hospital I mean?" he asked her after a while.

"Well, I guess it got its ups and downs. I really like it when I get a badly hurt patient and I manage to save him or her because of my knowledge. It just feels so good, knowing that somebody else can live thanks to you. Then of course it's quite tiresome, like when you get civilian patients that goes there for almost anything. Especially when it comes to their children; once a mother came in with her infant because she thought that he sounded weird when he burped" Sakura told him.

"You serious?" he asked her.

"Yeah, she seriously came to the hospital because he sounded different than usual" she answered. He chuckled a little bit.

"That sounds a little bit over the top" he said.

"Yeah, I know" she said, shaking her head. They walked past the Park and the blooming Sakura trees.

"I never know what to think about them" she suddenly said, breaking the silence.

"Huh?" he asked her as he turned his gaze from the trees to her.

"The Sakura trees. I never know if I like them or not" she answered him.

"What do you mean?" he asked her. Now he realized that they had stopped without him noticing.

"Well, I can't deny the fact that they're beautiful. Still yet it feels as if I say that people will just think I say so only because of my name. Because of that I've started to tell myself that I don't like them. Even though I do" she explained.

"And it doesn't really help that my hair has the same color" she then added.

"I think they're beautiful" he told her.

"I always get so relaxed every spring when they bloom. I absolutely love their scent" he said as he breathed in once deeply, almost to show what he meant. When he looked down on her he was meat by a gentle smile from her. He couldn't help but return it.

"Well if it isn't the youthful feeling of love" they could hear somebody say to their left. As they looked over there they saw Gai standing there with a large smile. At his side was his smaller copy Lee. In difference to Gai and his large smile Lee looked absolutely devastated.

"My… my… my Sakura-san" he basically whimpered out.

"Isn't that beautiful?" Gai asked, looking almost close to tears out of joy.

"Hi there Gai-sensei, Lee-san" Sakura greeted them, choosing to ignore the ranting from both of them. None of them seemed to notice her greeting as Gai actually broke out in tears and Lee stomped up to Kiba.

"I won't let her go without a fight Kiba-kun. So let the best man win" he said as he reached out his hand. Kiba felt very much confused as he insecurely took Lee's hand. The green clad, bowl-cut boy shook it once before stomping back to Gai.

"Come now Gai-sensei. We don't want to be late to training" he told the older man. Gai immediately snapped out of his tears and looked at Lee.

"You are absolutely right Lee. Now let's go. And let's make it a race" Gai said. The next moment he took off faster than anything else before Lee could even react.

"Aah. Gai-sensei wait for me" Lee said before taking off after Gai. Kiba and Sakura stood there and watched the spot where Gai and Lee had just been in.

"What. The. Fuck. Is wrong with them?" Kiba managed to press out after a while.

"I don't know but they always manage to scare me when they're together" Sakura answered as she shook her head. After a while both of them shook their heads furiously and managed to snap out of their haze together.

"Well, it seems as if I'm Lee's love rival now" Kiba said after a while with a smile.

"Yeah, it seems that way" Sakura answered.

* * *

**A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! **

**Myself I'm very pleased with the Gai-Lee-scene **

**Thank you Rohain Tahquil, HikaruOokami and As she sings for your reviews **

**Please review again, and all other, please review **


	6. It's Official

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* * *

**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!

**A/N: Ehh hehe ^^' Sorry for the late update! The sad thing is probably the fact that I don't have any good excuse to this story, I was late with AJW as well but there I had a good excuse, I hadn't freaking written the chapter yet. Here however, the chapter have been written long before I started to upload this story -.-'**

**To HikaruOokami, the reason there wasn't any Inner Sakura in the last chapter was the fact that it was from Kiba's "point of view" … Even if it was written in third person it was still yet just his thoughts ^^**

* * *

**Chapter 6: It's official**

Sakura felt all giddy during the rest of the day. Not even the numerous amounts of civilian patients that came in because of a strange disease that turned out to be a normal cold could bring her down.

The time was now eight p.m. and she had just gotten off of her short shift and was at the moment changing back to her normal attire and dreaming about Kiba.

"Well aren't you happy Haruno-sensei?" Tayumi said as Sakura reached the front desk. Sakura just smiled at her, a smile which Tayumi answered with a knowing one of her own.

"I recognize that look" she then said as she pointed at Sakura with her pen. She looked thoughtful for a while before understanding dawned on her face.

"You're in love" she said after a while. Sakura just nodded a little with that extreme smile she just couldn't help.

"Ah, I love that feeling" Tayumi said, sounding slightly envious.

"So, you meeting him now?" she then asked Sakura before she started to press on a bunch of buttons on the computer. Sakura shook her head.

"No, we're not dating or anything. But I do think that he likes me as well" she said. Tayumi smiled at her.

"Well, good luck girl. And now you're officially off work" she told her with a wink.

"Thanks Tayumi" Sakura said before walking out of the hospital.

Sakura didn't feel like going home just quite yet so instead she went to Ino's place.

As Ino opened the door Sakura wasn't at all surprised about how Ino looked. Some would've expected her to look devastated about the fact that her crush was away and would probably end up with someone else.

Not Ino however.

Instead she looked as normal and had already bounced back, probably ready to find somebody new to swoon over soon, if she hadn't already done so. Probably a civilian guy that would soon break up with her because he wouldn't be able to handle the fact that she could kick his ass.

"Hey, forehead-girl. What do you want?" Ino asked Sakura.

"Ino-pig. It's official. I'm over Sasuke-kun" Sakura said enthusiastically. Ino just looked at her for a while before he realized what Sakura had said, and then her eyes grew large as the tips of her mouth went up in a large smile.

"Yay" she almost screamed as she hugged Sakura and they started to jump around. Then she suddenly yanked her away and held her on arms length.

"Tell me everything" she said before dragging Sakura in through the door and up to her room.

Once there she basically tossed Sakura on to the bed before sitting down on it as well. Then she just looked at her with anticipation.

"Well" Sakura started before taking a deep breath, preparing for Ino's reaction.

"It's Kiba" she then said. Ino's eyes grew large.

"Inuzuka Kiba? Dog-breath?" she asked her. Sakura just nodded. Ino's expression turned in to a large smile.

"He's hot" she then said with a nod.

"Yeah I know" Sakura said and thought about the training earlier.

"Really hot" she then said to Ino with a meaningful look.

"What? You've already…?" Ino asked her surprised.

"No" Sakura said quickly.

"Oh, okay" Ino said, managing to sound both relieved and disappointed.

"But he was in to the hospital yesterday. And he offered me to train with his team earlier today. You know that bulky jacket he wears?" Sakura asked Ino. The blond girl nodded.

"He's wearing a tight mesh shirt under that thing" Sakura said. Ino almost gasped.

"What? _He _wears a mesh shirt?" Ino asked her.

"Yeah, and he looks really hot in it" Sakura almost whined as she remembered the image he had presented earlier that day.

"Well, tell me more" Ino urged her on.

"Well, at the end of the training he asked everybody if we wanted to go eat something. But both Shino and Hinata had clan business. I obviously thought that he wouldn't ask me to go alone with him, especially not since I'm not really a part of his team. But he did ask me" Sakura said.

"So, when we got to the restaurant the waitress thought that we were a couple. And he didn't correct her" Sakura said. Ino's eyes shot open at this.

"But he had this really good excuse that he was just tired of correcting them from all the times he had eaten lunch with Hinata or something" Sakura said quickly, waving her hand as if the excuse was an irritating fly.

"Still, it didn't sound as if he had ever ignored correcting them with Hinata" she then added. Ino just nodded at her as if saying 'That's good'.

"Then when we were waiting for the food there was this long pause when we were just sitting there looking deep in each others' eyes. And then he said that he liked my eyes" Sakura said.

"What? He said that your eyes are beautiful?" Ino asked her.

"No, he said that he liked them" Sakura said.

"What? He said 'I like you eyes'?" Ino asked her. Sakura just nodded before continuing.

"Then when I mentioned the fact that I won over Hinata by straddling her he looked clearly disturbed, in the good way" Sakura said. Ino broke out laughing and Sakura joined in.

"No, he didn't?" Ino asked her. Sakura just nodded before they broke out laughing again.

"Okay, anything more?" Ino asked Sakura after a while.

"Well, after we had eaten he offered walking me to the hospital. And he did it even though I said that he didn't need to" Sakura continued as she thought over if there was anything more.

"Yeah, right. It was that slightly scary thing with Gai-sensei and Lee-san" Sakura said subconsciously.

"What?" Ino asked her.

"Well. When we reached the Park we suddenly stopped. And then for some reason I told him that I've never known if I like Sakura trees" Sakura started sounding slightly bored.

"Yeah" Ino said with double meaning, both that she understood what Sakura meant and that she knew how Sakura felt about the trees.

"Well, then he said that he loved the Sakura trees because their scent make him relax" Sakura continued. Ino nodded at her.

"Then suddenly Gai-sensei stood there and saying something about 'the youthful feeling of love'. Lee-san was standing next to him, looking absolutely devastated as Gai-sensei suddenly broke out in happy tears. Lee-san then marched up to Kiba and shook his hand as he said something like 'I won't let her go without a fight. Let the best man win'" Sakura explained.

Ino sat there looking slightly disturbed for a while before she broke out laughing a second time.

"That's so Gai-sensei and Lee-san" Ino said as she wiped away a tear.

"Yeah, tell me about it" Sakura said.

"So, was that all or…?" Ino asked as she arched her eyebrow meaningfully.

"Well. After Gai-sensei and Lee-san had left he said 'Well, it looks like I'm Lee's love rival now'. I know that's not much, but he didn't say it in a joking way, more like… well it's hard to explain. But you get it?" Sakura said.

"Oh yeah, I get it" Ino said with a nod.

"Girl. He's yours already" Ino then said as she nodded.

"You think?" Sakura asked her.

"Oh yeah, it sounds as if he's as hooked on you as you're on him"

* * *

The next day Sakura had a long shift at the hospital and had to get up early. She was still sleepwalking as she left home for the empty morning streets of Konoha.

'_Why do I have to work before anybody's up?'_ she wondered.

_**Because the ones who're in charge worries that everybody will fall and hurt themselves while sleepwalking **_Inner Sakura answered with a yawn.

'_You're probably right' _Sakura answered her.

Some part of her could see why she started so early, there could always be an emergency. Still yet it felt so ridiculously early since everybody was still asleep anyway, it would be hard to get hurt while still asleep.

When she walked in to the hospital she was surprised to see that the hall was empty. Usually there were always some people there, doctors who had worked the nightshift or relatives to patients that had arrived during the night.

"Weird" she said to herself as she walked over to the desk.

She was even more surprised when nobody was sitting there. Her eyebrows creased as she walked up to the desk.

There on the other side Tayumi was sitting with her head resting against the desk, sleeping.

Sakura shook her head as she knocked loudly on the desk. Tayumi's head shot up quickly.

"I wasn't asleep" she said sounding very much tired.

"Yeah, I know you weren't" Sakura said. Tayumi turned her head towards Sakura and breathed out in relief.

"Oh, it was only you Haruno-sensei" she said. Sakura chuckled a little bit.

"Yeah, but you're lucky. It could just as well have been shishou, deciding to check out the hospital" Sakura said. Tayumi arched an eyebrow.

"You think that Hokage-sama would step out of bed this time of the day only to get down here to the hospital?" Tayumi asked her. Sakura laughed a little.

"Yeah, I guess you're right" she said. Tayumi smiled as she started to check Sakura in.

"How come you were sleeping anyway? Just that tired or something else?" Sakura asked her. Tayumi yawned once and Sakura felt the urge to do so as well at the sight. After a while she couldn't resist the urge and yawned as well.

"Well, I had to take the night shift too since she who usually takes it is home, sick" Tayumi said before turning back to Sakura.

"You serious? That's sick. You really should employ more people" she said sounding sincerely concerned.

"Yeah, well. That's not my decision to make. That's Hokage-sama's decision" Tayumi said with a small shrug.

"What's my decision?" they could suddenly hear a deep, but still female, voice say from the entrance.

As they looked there they were met with the sight of the Godaime Hokage walking over to them.

"Hokage-sama" Tayumi said surprised as she hurriedly stood up to bow at the woman.

"To employ more personnel" Sakura said as she turned to Tsunade. The blond woman arched an eyebrow questioningly.

"Isn't there enough people working here?" Tsunade asked her apprentice.

"Tayumi here had to take the night shift as well because the other girl's home being sick. That means that Tayumi's just about to start her third shift" Sakura told her. Tsunade turned to Tayumi.

"Is that true Tayumi-san?" she asked her.

"Hai, Hokage-sama" Tayumi answered, somewhat nervous about the fact that she was speaking with the Hokage herself.

"Well, in that case I will get right to it" Tsunade said with a nod before walking away further in to the hospital. When Sakura turned back to Tayumi the blond was sitting there with large eyes.

"I just talked to the Hokage" she said after a while. Sakura shook her head and chuckled a little.

"I'm in or what?" she asked Tayumi.

"Oh, yeah right. Yes you are now officially in Haruno-sensei. Unfortunately I don't have any patient for you yet. As you might see it's quite empty" Tayumi answered as she motioned at the empty hall at the ending.

"Yeah I can see that" Sakura answered as they both chuckled a little bit.

"By the way. Inuzuka Kiba is going to come here today for his check-up since Wednesday. Can you make sure I get him?" she asked the receptionist.

"Of course Haruno-sensei" Tayumi said with a smile.

"Thanks" Sakura said as she turned around to go change in to her doctor's attire.

* * *

Kiba came just after lunchtime and was Sakura's fifth patient for the day.

The amounts of people coming in hadn't increased very much, this was a slow day. Something especially Tayumi was thankful for.

"Hi there Sakura-san" he said as she stepped in through the door.

"Hi Kiba-kun" she said with a smile to him. He was sitting on the bed as last time, only now he still had his jacket on.

"What? I'm not getting a shirtless you this time?" she asked him jokingly with a little wink. He chuckled a little.

"Well, I am quite fond of my clothes" he answered. She laughed a little bit with him before getting in to business.

"Well, unfortunately you will at least have to lose the jacket" she said as she held up a needle for him to see.

"Damn" he said jokingly before taking off his jacket. Sakura felt how her heart beat faster a couple of times at the sight of his almost bare chest.

"There you go" he said when the jacket was fully off.

She smiled a little before taking his arm to take another sample of his blood. When the nurse had taken it away to test it she sat down and waited with him.

"So, I checked the medicine for Hana-san" Sakura started.

"Yeah, and?" Kiba asked her sounding somewhat hopeful she noticed. He must really care for his sister.

"I'm sorry but it's not useable on animals" she said. His expression turned in to a slightly disappointed one.

"Oh" he said.

"I did though find this other poison killer that's useable on animals as well. It's a new medicine however so we haven't got it. But I know for a fact that Tsunade-shishou plans to order it so I went ahead and did so" she then said.

"What? Really?" he asked her.

"Yeah, so I'll just pack that with the next time Hana-san comes here to pick up medicines" Sakura said.

"Thanks. That's really nice of you Sakura" he said as he smiled to her. Sakura felt how her heart skipped a beat at the smile, and also the fact that he suddenly lost the suffix.

"Na, it's nothing" she said as she waved it off. A little later the nurse came back with the result.

"He's clean Haruno-sensei" she informed them as she gave Sakura the chart.

"Thank you Rimi-san" Sakura said before the nurse left.

"Well, it looks like you don't need to take the medicine anymore" Sakura said with a smile.

"Yeah it does" he replied as he stretched for his jacket. Sakura couldn't help but feel disappointed as he started to put it back on.

When they walked out of the examine room Tsunade came walking down the hallway towards them.

"Hokage-sama" Kiba hurried to say with a bow.

"Kiba-san" Tsunade said back to him before turning to Sakura.

"I need to talk with you Sakura" she said to the girl.

"Hai Tsunade-shishou" Sakura said before turning to Kiba.

"I'll add the medicine then in to Hana-san's package" she said to Kiba.

"Yeah, thanks again. See you later Sakura" he said to her before starting to walk down the hallway.

"Bye Kiba" she called out after him in a sudden moment of confidence. If he didn't use a suffix why should she?

"Come with me" Tsunade said as Sakura turned back to her. The Hokage then led her apprentice to her office there at the hospital.

"So what was it that you wanted Tsunade-shishou?" Sakura asked her.

"You're not going to work here at the hospital tomorrow" she said as she sat down behind her desk.

"I'm not? Why not?" Sakura asked her surprised and afraid that she might have offended some patient.

"Because I'm sending you on a mission" Tsunade answered. Sakura blinked. A mission? Because of her training with Tsunade the Hokage had put her off all missions so that Sakura could focus entirely on her training.

"Okay, what kind of mission?" Sakura asked her.

"Well, I'll tell you more about it tomorrow morning during the mission briefing. But it's a tracking mission and the team I have in thought does not have a medic. And one will most assuredly be needed on this mission" Tsunade explained.

"Okay, but why me?" Sakura asked, wondering why she didn't choose one of the many medics that weren't off missions because of training with the Hokage.

"Because only I and Shizune are better than you at the moment and this mission concern your parents" Tsunade said. Sakura felt a pang of worry at the mention of her parents.

"Did something happen to my parents?" she asked her sounding worried.

**A/N: Okay, so, hope you liked it! ^^**

**Thank you to** **Rohain Tahquil, SugarCoatedRainbow-chan, shadywon08, HikaruOokami and Ashimattack for your lovely reviews ^^**


	7. Mission with her

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: Gaah, how come I haven't updated this story anything? O_O**

**I mean, I've already got 10 chapters ready and all … :P**

**Guess it's because I don't have any more than 10 chapters ready and I got a little stressed out since I haven't been able to write anything on this for surely half a year or something :P**

**Well, I'm sorry!!!! If anyone really does read this story '.....**

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** Chapter 7: Mission with her**

Kiba had both looked forward to go see Sakura at the hospital and not.

He wanted to see her because he liked being around her and he managed to relax then. And for once Hinata wasn't in his mind.

Still yet he was slightly anxious because that night he didn't have his usual dream with Hinata.

Instead he had another dream with Sakura and Hinata together – he guessed that the images of Sakura straddling Hinata had something to with it.

So he hadn't felt entirely comfortable when waking up that morning. Because of that he dragged out the time before his visit to the hospital and didn't go until after lunch when he didn't think he could take anymore time.

He did after all not have anything else to do the entire day.

Fortunately he managed to suppress those thoughts and images when he was there with her.

As soon as he was ready and rounded the corner though, the images came right back and he hurried back home.

* * *

The next morning he woke by something slightly ticklish on his face.

He tried to slap it away but it came back too soon. Groaning he slapped it away again as he opened his eyes. Something he maybe shouldn't have, because as he did he discovered that the thing tickling him had been a humongous bug (a/n: It's humongous for being a bug).

"Wooa" he screamed as he jumped out of bed "What the…" he started as he stood there in boxers and T-shirt as looked at the bed.

"You're awake" he could suddenly hear a monotone voice say right behind him.

"Wooa" he screamed again as he once more jumped away. As he turned around her could see Shino standing there and look at him in his usual slightly creepy way. Kiba immediately calmed down.

"What the fuck man. Was that really necessary?" he asked Shino as he breathed out in relief. He was slightly out of breath from the shock.

"I needed to wake you" Shino answered calmly. Suddenly the huge bug flew past Kiba, almost dangerously close.

"Wooa" Kiba said a third time as he jumped out of the way for the bug.

"Man, can't you just control those things?" Kiba asked Shino as he motioned for the bug headed towards Shino trough the air.

"I am controlling them" Shino answered as he stretched out his hand for the bug to land on. Kiba breathed out heavily as he shook his head.

"Anyway, what brought on this scary wake-up call?" Kiba asked.

"We have a mission briefing" Shino answered.

"We do?" Kiba asked him.

"Yes" Shino answered in his monotone voice.

"But, Kurenai-sensei isn't in town is she? Wasn't she on a mission?" Kiba asked him.

"Yes" Shino answered.

"But how can we have a mission then?" Kiba asked him.

"Because the Hokage says so" was Shino's short but calm answer as he pivoted and walked out of the room. Kiba just shook his head before getting dressed.

"Hey, how long time do we have?" Kiba called out through the door as he pulled on his pants.

"20 minutes" came Shino's calm answer.

"Okay… hey. 20 minutes? It takes 20 minutes just to get there" Kiba screamed back.

"Yes, 20 minutes" Shino answered and suddenly Kiba was in a hurry.

"What the fuck, you should've woke me earlier" Kiba told Shino as they hurried in to the Hokage building with Akamaru close behind.

"I tried" was all Shino answered.

"Well, try harder next time" Kiba retorted.

"And please do it in another way" he then added after a second's thought.

The next second they stumbled in to Tsunade's office. The blond woman looked a little shocked at them as Hinata and Sakura was standing there, turning their heads towards them.

What was Sakura doing there?

"Just in time" Tsunade said to them.

"Good morning Hokage-sama" Shino said with a nod, always the cool headed person. Kiba looked at him a little frantic before realizing that he should greet her as well.

"Good morning Hokage-sama" he said as he bowed.

"Good morning you two" Tsunade answered. Kiba saw how her gaze then went to his hand questioningly. Kiba looked down there and realized that he was still holding his breakfast sandwich. He laughed a little sheepishly as he held up the sandwich.

"Breakfast" he explained.

"Okay, well then. Don't be afraid go ahead and eat" Tsunade told him before turning her chair to the bookshelf to her left and took out a scroll from there.

"Itadakimasu" Kiba quietly said as he quickly ate the sandwich. Damn Shino and his profound way of waking people.

"So, I'm sending you all on a mission together" Tsunade started.

"It's a tracking mission, that's why assigned you team 8. But because of Yuuhi Kurenai's absence you are not a full four man cell. So I also assigned Haruno Sakura to you team since you will need a medic for this mission" Tsunade explained.

"Any immediate questions?" the Hokage then asked.

"What is the mission?" Shino asked her.

"I'm coming to that part Shino-kun" Tsunade answered.

"Okay, since there's no other questions I'll just answer Shino's" Tsunade said after a while of silence.

"Five days ago a team was sent out to grass for information gathering. Now what they were gathering information on is unfortunately confidential so I can't tell you that. Your mission is to go towards grass, track down our men and then get a scroll from them" Tsunade explained.

"How are we going to get their scent?" Shino asked her.

"They are Sakura's parents. She will provide with their scent. Have you brought any objects?" Tsunade answered and then asked Sakura.

"Hai Tsunade-shishou" Sakura answered as she brought out two scarves from her pouch to show them.

"Do we have any approximate position of them?" Shino continued to ask her.

"We only know that they are somewhere along the border. Which side of it is however unknown" Tsunade answered.

"Why do we need a medic for this mission in particular?" Kiba suddenly asked. He had just realized Tsunade had said that they would need one for this mission. Usually they had to go without one. His gaze fluttered slightly to Sakura and he thought that he saw something close to disappointment in her gaze.

"I mean, we don't usually have medic. And you said we would need one for this. Why?" he evolved his question, trying to explain himself somewhat.

"Because Sakura's parents will most assuredly be in some need of medical treatment" Tsunade answered calmly.

"Oh, okay" Kiba answered. Once again his gaze fluttered to Sakura and he thought that he saw something like worry there.

"Good, anything else?" Tsunade then asked them.

"W-when are we h-heading out?" Hinata suddenly asked brining the attention to her. As she did Kiba realized for the first time that she was there. For some reason he hadn't noticed earlier.

"Immediately" Tsunade answered the shy Hyuuga girl.

* * *

It didn't take long until they were jumping from branch to branch through the forest, heading towards grass.

Kiba glanced at Sakura several times and each time she looked just as worried. Something in him felt bad about the fact that she was so troubled.

"Talk to her" Akamaru suddenly barked at him.

"What?" Kiba asked him.

"Sakura-chan. Ask how she's feeling. I clearly feel that you want to" Akamaru answered.

"Not now" was all Kiba answered before continuing on forward.

They continued in silence for a few hours until they stopped for lunch. Also that one in silence. When everybody was finished they immediately continued until Shino thought it was time to stop for the day.

He darted down from a branch in to a clearing and they followed him.

"Let's make camp here. Sakura-san, Kiba you go secure the area" he told them. Kiba and Sakura nodded as they headed out. Even though she didn't complain Kiba could both sense and smell that she was anxious and wanted to continue.

"Relax Sakura. I'm sure they're fine" he told her as they headed to the outskirts of the meadow. Sakura looked up at him, clearly troubled.

"You think?" she asked him as they walked out of the clearing and in to the forest.

"Of course" he answered with a reassuring smile.

"But, what if something happened to them. I wasn't anymore worried than usual earlier. But now when she sent me with you guys because they would most definitely need medical treatment I got really worried. How can she be so sure they will need medical treatment?" Sakura asked without really expecting an answer. Kiba could smell the salty smell of tears and understood that she was probably going to cry.

"Hey, Sakura" he said as he stretched out his arms to her, offering her a comforting hug. She almost immediately stepped in to his embrace and hugged him.

"I'm sure they're fine" he said as he could feel the first tears on his jacket, at the same time the salty smell grew stronger. Then he just stood there, letting her cry out as he slightly swayed back and forth in a cradling way.

"Hey, go check the place" he told Akamaru after a while. The big white dog barked an okay before leaving to secure the place in their place.

After a while Kiba rested his chin on her head. When he breathed in he was suddenly reminded of the Sakura trees back in Konoha. After a while he realized that it was Sakura who smelled so good.

It wasn't anything like the Sakura trees, it was just as relaxing as their scent. She had that sweet overwhelming scent of vanilla. He felt how he took deeper breaths just to get more of that smell, that sweet scent that clouded your brain because of its fullness.

After a while he sensed how she calmed down. He held her out on an arm's length.

"You okay?" he asked her gently. She nodded with a sniffle.

"I'm sure they're okay" he said one last time before giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. He knew that he might've been crossing a line there, instead of worrying over it too much he just hoped that he hadn't. After all he wouldn't want her to shy away from him because she thought that he had a crush on her or something that would ruin their friendship. Even though he really hadn't considered them friends for more than a couple of days he still yet found himself cherishing that friendship.

That evening went easy without any other problems and they soon went to bed.

"G-good night" Hinata said before walking in to the girls' tent.

"G'night" Kiba said to her as he looked back in to the fire. They had kept sitting there after they had eaten and now Hinata decided to sleep. She had basically not talked for the entire day and now when she finally did Kiba realized for a second time that day that he hadn't been distracted by her presence at all. Usually he wouldn't be able to think about anything else than her actions and her beauty, being tense constantly because of that. Today however he hadn't thought about her even once, instead he had worried over Sakura.

"Yeah, I think I should sleep as well" the pink haired girl said as she stretched and yawned once as if to show how tired she was.

"Okay, G'night Sakura" he said with a smile at her.

"Good night guys" she said, only getting a nod from Shino.

"Know what? I think I'm going to sleep as well" Kiba said after a while before getting up. Shino nodded once. The bug master had the first watch, and being the nice guy he was he had made sure that Kiba wouldn't have to handle Hinata during the night. No, after Shino was Hinata and then Sakura before Kiba took the last shift.

* * *

Kiba thought that it was far too early when he was waked by somebody shaking him slightly. As he opened his eyes he could see Sakura crouching besides him.

"It's your shift" she told him with a wink before getting out of the tent. Kiba quickly got dressed and walked out as he wondered why he had felt as happy when he saw Sakura crouching there besides him. Usually when somebody woke him up he felt disappointed that it hadn't been Hinata. Sakura was sitting at the fire again as he came out.

"Hey" she said to him as he walked over and sat down.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked her, thinking about earlier that day.

"Yeah, thanks by the way. I really needed that" she said.

"No problem" he answered her with a smile.

"So, no Akamaru?" she asked him then.

"Nope, no Akamaru. I thought I should let him sleep" Kiba explained.

"Oh, and I was hoping that I could spoil him for a while" she said with a fake pout. He chuckled a little bit with her.

"Well. I'm going back to sleep now" she said after a while as she stood up.

"Once again, good night" she said to him.

"Yeah, G'night" he said as she walked over to her and Hinata's tent.

When she had entered he looked up at the sky. It wasn't much but he could see a part of the sky.

Then suddenly he could hear a strange sound from the girls' tent. It sounded like a soft bump and then he could clearly hear both of them making some strange sound.

Without his consent the earlier images of Sakura and Hinata immediately popped up in his head as he wondered what they were doing in that tent.

Suddenly it wasn't even half as easy to just relax and wait out the hours until sunrise.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Thank you to LoveIsMyHate, Sir Greatness, Youkolvr and xXxTrueXloveXisXundyingxXx for your reviews^^**

**I hope you still want to read this despite the late update!**


	8. Curry Princess

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: So, haven't updated this in a while … Probably lost all my readers, but hopefully I'll gain new ones :P**

**I just want to say that the reason I did upload this chapter is because of a review from one** **asking me to continue the story. I chose to answer his plead by uploading another chapter (damn, it feels kind of good to write as if though you're that important… I mean he just asked me to continue the story, it's not as if it'll effect him that much) … **

**Chapter 8: Curry Princess**

When Sakura had entered her and Hinata's tent she began with undressing. Then when she was going to go to her sleeping bag she managed to trip over Hinata and literally land on top of the other girl. Hinata's eyes shot open immediately and Sakura clamped her hand over the other girl's mouth. She didn't know why but she had.

"I'm sorry Hinata-chan" she whispered to the other girl before rolling off of her.

"T-that's a-alright S-s-sakura-san" Hinata whispered back. Sakura then crawled in to her own sleeping back. As she laid there she thought about earlier when Kiba had held her as she cried. It had just felt so good being there in his arms. She had felt safe there, surrounded by him and his lovely smell. For some reason she had imagined that he smelled like dog, instead he had smelt like the forest surrounding them. As she lay there she decided that it was her new favorite smell.

Next morning they quickly continued towards grass. Sakura grew more and more anxious, knowing that they would reach the border that evening. Every time they stopped – if so even only for water – she felt as if she would loose it and go mad from the waiting. So the stop for lunch wasn't very wanted when it came, even though they didn't eat out in the forest, but at a side-road restaurant.

Except for them there were three other men sitting at a table in the corner. A man with a dirty apron that covered his legs came out from a door. As he walked towards them he was polishing a knife with what looked like a dirty towel.

"Hey, you. No animals allowed" he said as he pointed at Akamaru with the knife.

"What? Come on. He's a nin dog" Kiba tried.

"Nope, no animals" the man said sternly as he motioned for the door with the knife.

"Alright" Kiba said with a sigh.

"Akamaru go wait outside" The white dog barfed.

"Yeah, I know" Kiba answered to whatever it was that Akamaru had 'said'.

"So, what do ya want?" he asked with a nasty grin as they sat down.

"What do you got?" Kiba asked him.

"You want a menu or something?" he asked him.

"That would be helpful, yeah" Kiba answered.

"Then go somewhere else" the man said before breaking out in a bellowing laughter, apparently finding it very funny. They smiled a little unsure at him.

"Na, seriously. What do ya want?" he then asked them as he had stopped laughing.

"Seriously, what have you?" Kiba asked him.

"Well, there's mi chicken soup, mi stew, there's mi wife's curry" he started to count up on his fingers.

"I'll take the curry" Kiba said.

"Yeah, me too" Sakura added.

"'Kay, two curries. What about you two?" he asked as he turned to Shino and Hinata.

"I-I'll t-take t-the c-c-chicken s-soup, please" Hinata said.

"I'm sorry honey, we don't got no such thing. There's chicken soup though if you'd like" he said before starting to laugh a second time at his own joke. Hinata the poor thing looked down in the table. Sakura felt so bad for her right then.

"Stew, please" Shino said as soon as he had stopped laughing.

"Alright, two curries, one stew and one c-c-chicken s-soup coming right up" he said with a little smile at his last joke.

"You think he's in any civilian bingo book?" Sakura asked them as soon as he had left. Right then she felt as if her blood was boiling.

"Why do you wonder?" Kiba asked her.

"I want to know if I'm allowed to hit that bastard. 'Cause I swear, if he makes one more joke like that I will hit him" she said.

"P-please d-d-don't S-sakura-san" Hinata almost begged her. Sakura sighed as she looked at Hinata.

"Alright, I won't hit him" she reassured Hinata.

"Hard" she then added, as a mutter. She could hear how Kiba coughed to mask a laugh. When she looked up at him he returned her gaze at they smiled to each other. It might've been a joking kind of smile, still yet it felt good to Sakura. It felt as if they truly knew each other and was on the same level.

They managed to survive the man's jokes the rest of the lunch, and so did he. Another plus was that they managed to survive the food as well. Kiba and Sakura had apparently made the wrong choice. The curry had been the spiciest thing they had ever eaten and it almost felt as if they would die when putting the first bite in their mouths. There hadn't been anything wrong with Hinata's chicken soup and Shino had seemed to thrive when eating his stew.

"Damn, that was not good" Kiba said, sounding extremely tired as he stapled out of the place.

"Yeah, and I choose it because it was the only thing he hadn't cooked" Sakura said as she stapled out after the stapling Kiba.

"Same here, it didn't look as if anything he had cooked would be edible" Kiba said.

"I loved the stew" Shino suddenly said in his monotone voice.

"We know that already" Kiba said with a tired sigh.

"It wasn't like my own, but it was pretty close actually" Shino continued his monotone ranting.

"Just shut up" Kiba asked Shino.

"You know what. I will bring father to this place sometime" Shino continued, ignoring Kiba.

_**Damn, he's scary when he speaks in that monotone voice **_Inner Sakura said, clearly creped out.

'_Tell me about it' _

"A-are you t-two o-okay?" Hinata asked them nervously as she walked after the two stapling teenagers.

"Yeah, we're fine" Sakura said with a wave of her hand.

"Speak for yourself" Kiba said.

"What? You couldn't take it?" Sakura asked him in a cocky way. It lost some of its sting since she looked and sounded tired, plus the fact that she couldn't walk properly.

"I think I heard you complain as well" Kiba answered.

"I didn't complain even half as much as you did" she retorted quickly.

"Yeah, sure. Who was it that said she would die if she took another bite?" Kiba asked her.

"Who was it that started praying in there?" Sakura asked him. By now both of them looked healthy again as they stood and glared at each other.

"You two shouldn't have spiced up the food more just to compete" Shino suddenly interrupted to the two of them. Both of them blinked slightly as they looked at him.

_**He's right. You really shouldn't have competed. That shit was really strong **_Inner Sakura shot in.

'_Shut up, it was you who told me to compete in the first place'_ Sakura retorted back and efficiently shut up Inner Sakura.

"What if we wanted to compete?" Kiba asked Shino angrily.

"Yeah, what if?" Sakura said to him.

"Then you shouldn't complain" Shino said.

"I'm not the one complaining. Miss Princess here is since she can't take a little spice" Kiba said as he pointed at Sakura.

"Oh, I'm the one complaining? You're the one who started" Sakura said as they once again turned towards each other.

"Really? Wasn't it you who almost screamed before gulping down the entire content of your glass at the first bite?" Kiba asked her.

"Wasn't it you who … who … who fainted after laughing you ass of at me?" Sakura asked him triumphant.

"Actually, that was both of you" Shino suddenly said. Kiba turned to him with big eyes.

"What?" he asked the bug-user.

"Soon after you fainted Sakura-san fainted as well" Shino said calmly as Sakura was motioning for him to keep quiet behind Kiba's back. As the Inuzuka boy turned around to her she stopped immediately and gave him a sheepish smile.

"You fainted too?" Kiba asked her with a smug smile. She laughed sheepishly a little bit.

"Maybe" she then said after a while. He immediately started laughing at her.

"I knew it. Who faint other than a Princess?" He asked her smug when he had recovered from his laughing.

"You" Shino said.

That evening they reached the border and the next morning they started tracking for Sakura's parents.

"So, here's their scarves" Sakura said as she picked up two scarves from her pouch. She then handed them over to Shino who let his bugs memorize the smell. After that Kiba took it.

"I'll take these since your bugs got that damn memory" he said as he put them in his pouch.

"Yes, I and Hinata will go this way while you and Sakura can go that way. Don't split up, we are on the border of another country. There could come enemy ninjas and it is not good if you're attacked" Shino said.

"Okay, but what am I supposed to do?" Sakura asked, feeling a little awkward. She was the only one who couldn't help at this part, they were the tracking team.

"You'll just go with me and Akamaru so we can keep you safe Princess" Kiba said as he laid an arm around her shoulders. Sakura felt how her face heated up slightly and hoped that he didn't notice too much.

"Hey, I don't need you to keep safe" she said, trying to sound angry. Kiba just chuckled at her.

"But you're a Princess. That means you're very delicate and has to be taken care of" he said with a little wink.

"I am not" was all that Sakura said as she stepped out of his embrace, trying to look offended.

"I'll place a female bug on you two. Their scent is very prominent to the male bugs, therefore I will always be able to find you. I've also placed a male bug on you so that you will always be able to find us. Just feed it some chakra and then follow it" Shino explained

"I know. You don't have to explain that every mission we go on" Kiba said with a sigh.

"L-l-let's j-just h-head out" Hinata suddenly said, brining attention to herself.

"Yeah, Hinata's right. Let's go Princess" Kiba said before quickly turning around and walk out of the little clearing they stood in. As usual when Hinata suddenly spoke up Kiba seemed a little tense and almost guilty. Sakura wondered why.

"Good luck" she said before hurrying after Kiba.

"So, we gonna start now Princess?" he asked her as she caught up with him.

"Yeah, as soon as you stop calling me Princess in that way" she answered.

"In what way?" he asked her.

"In that way. It sounds as if you think you're far better than me" she answered.

"Well, aren't I Princess?" he asked her before he suddenly took off up in to the trees. It took a while before Sakura understood that he had fled the field.

_**What a coward**_ Inner Sakura said.

'_Yeah, it seems that way' _Sakura replied before taking off after him. The rest of the day all Sakura did was to follow Kiba around. It didn't feel good at all. She felt like a third wheel, plus extremely bored. The only thing positive with it was the fact that she could spend time checki-….. with Kiba.

They continued in the same fashion for another day, so when the third day arrived Sakura was feeling very anxious. What if something serious had happened to her parents? As she was walking there with Kiba and Akamaru darting around all over the place – looking for a scent – Akamaru suddenly stopped and perked up his head, alert. Kiba looked over from his place on the other side of the little trail as Akamaru barked.

"You found them?" Kiba asked him. Akamaru barked again, and at the sight of Kiba's slightly confused expression Sakura wished that she as well could speak dog.

"You certain?" Kiba asked Akamaru as Sakura stood there anxious. The large dog barked once more.

"That can't be" Kiba said.

"What the fuck's wrong?" Sakura suddenly screamed out, unable to hold it together anymore. Kiba looked at her a little surprised, as if he just remembered she was with him as well. Before he could answer however Shino and Hinata came jumping out from the forest on to the trail.

"We found them" Shino said.

"Yeah, Akamaru just thought he smelled them. But he can't be certain since she's there" Kiba said.

'_Who the hell is 'she'? _Sakura thought to herself.

"Or?" Kiba then asked Shino.

"Yes it is her. Hinata confirmed it" Shino answered.

"What's she doing there?" Kiba asked.

"It seems it is her mission" Shino answered.

**A/N: Oh, cliffy.. It feels kind of mean to start of with a cliffy after such a long break, well well.. **

**I'll really try my hardest to finish this (haven't written a word since I last updated, this was just lying there, finished) I do know where the story is going and all that.. I just don't have too much motivation to write, and I'll probably have to watch some Naruto episodes to get the proper atmosphere :P**


	9. GenJutsu

**A/N: Sorry for updating so late, but I just haven't been able to find the time or energy because of my current job. But the last day is this Friday.. until next Wednesday, then I'll start at the university =P **

Chapter 9: Gen-jutsu

'_What is Kurenai-sensei doing with Sakura's parents?' _

They were at the moment still standing on the trail in the forest where they had discovered the scent of Sakura's parents, and Kurenai's. Akamaru had at first gotten confused if it truly was Sakura's parents he smelled because of Kurenai's scent. Then Shino and Hinata had come stumbling through the forest, confirming Kiba's and Akamaru's suspicions. Kurenai was there with Sakura's parents.

"Who the hell is 'she'?" Sakura suddenly asked, sounding very angry. Kiba suddenly remembered that she couldn't have any idea who they were speaking of.

"Is there an enemy with my parents?" she asked them.

"Na, take it easy Princess. It's only Kurenai-sensei" Kiba said with a smile at her. Instead of calming down – like he had expected her to do – she went furious.

"Why the fuck didn't you tell me so earlier?" she screamed at him. He looked at her a little surprised.

"I forgot" he said as if it was obvious.

"You forgot? You forgot?" she screamed.

"I'll teach you about forgetting" she then said as she jumped right at him, making him fall over, Sakura following down toward the ground. The next second he felt her hands around his neck, clearly trying to strangle him.

'_What's wrong with her?' _he thought to himself as he grabbed hold of her wrists, trying to force them away from his neck. Unfortunately for him she wasn't just any girl, she was a kunoichi who specialized in brute strength. He decided to surprise her just as during their training, therefore he stopped fighting for a while. Then when she least expected it he once again took a hold of her wrists and rolled them over. Now he was lying on top of her, holding her hands in a firm grip over her head with one of his hands.

"Take it easy Princess" he told her. She had stopped struggling because of the chock, still yet she was glaring at him.

"I'm sorry for forgetting, but I did. And it won't help if you strangle me because you're worried over your parents" he told her. Her glare slowly turned in to a regretful look and soon her gaze averted from his in guilt.

"I'm sorry" she said after a while.

"That's alright Princess" he said reassuringly before letting go and stood up, offering her a hand. She looked at it for a little while before taking it.

"That's better. Now, be a good Princess" he said as he petted her on the head.

"Let's get going" Shino suddenly said. Kiba noticed slightly how Sakura reacted surprised as Shino spoke – as if she had forgotten his presence – but he chose to ignore it.

"Yeah" Kiba said before all of them took of.

"Where are they?" Sakura asked as they were jumping through the trees.

"They're in a small cave up ahead" Shino answered. It only took a few minutes before they reached a stop of the trees. The line of trees formed a semi-circle and where they stopped a stone-wall started. Surprisingly enough the stone didn't have any opening.

"What? Where's the opening?" Kiba asked confused. He could clearly smell both Kurenai and Sakura's parents from the stone-wall.

"It's there, you just can't see it" Shino said.

"What? So you mean you can?" Kiba asked him.

"It's a gen-jutsu baka" Sakura said.

"They don't want to be found by enemies so they put up a gen-jutsu at the opening" Shino explained calmly.

"Probably simple for a gen-jutsu expert at Kurenai-sensei's level" Sakura said as she stepped out of the trees and in to the clearing.

"S-sakura-san" Hinata said as she stretched out a hand after Sakura.

"What?" Sakura asked as she turned her head to Hinata.

"W-what if t-there's t-traps?" Hinata said. Sakura smiled at her.

"You see any?" she asked the girl.

"N-no b-but-" Hinata started.

"Well, if _you_ can't see any Hinata-chan there shouldn't be any. Right?" Sakura asked her, clearly referring to Hinata's byakugan.

"Oh" Hinata said before activating her kekkei-genkai and looking around.

"Clear, right?" Sakura asked her.

"Hai" Hinata said.

"Would've thought so. The gen-jutsu is of such a high-level that the only ones who would sense it would be high-level shinobi. People who would be able to get in to the cave despite the traps" Sakura explained.

"Then how did you discover it Princess?" Kiba asked her. Was she saying that she was a high-level shinobi?

"I guess I'm just good with gen-jutsus" Sakura said before walking up to the wall. Team eight followed her up there.

"I guess this is where I take over somewhat" Sakura said with a smile to them before closing her eyes and putting her eyes together.

"Kai" she said after a while. Then before his eyes a part of the stone-wall disappeared and an opening revealed itself. This was clearly where Sakura's parents and Kurenai were; their scent was clear as a day and was coming from that cave. He looked at Sakura and saw that she was clearly more relaxed now than earlier, she must really have been worried about her parents.

The cave was long and dark as they walked in. They didn't see much so Hinata had to go first since her sight was somewhat better than their. After her went Sakura, then Kiba and Shino. They walked for several minutes without finding anything. Still yet the scent of their 'target' hung heavy in the air to Kiba. They were clearly here.

"Shouldn't we be there soon?" Kiba asked after a while.

"I'm not sure. I do agree with you, still yet I don't sense ant gen-jutsu" Sakura answered.

"How about you Shino-kun?" she then asked the bug user. To their surprise there wasn't any answer.

"Hey, Shino" Kiba called out.

"Hinata-chan. Do you see Shino-kun?" Sakura called forward to Hinata. Once again they didn't get any answer. Kiba was very confused right now.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I don't know. It might be another gen-jutsu and it might be enemy shinobi" Sakura answered as they backed up towards each other.

"I guess it's worth a try" she then suddenly said.

"What's worth a try?" he asked her, but as he turned around she was suddenly gone. What was happening here?

"Akamaru" he said, trying to locate his large white dog. Once again he didn't get any response and it seemed as if also Akamaru had disappeared. The next thing he knew everything started to grow hazy. Another second later he was standing in a larger opening of the cave with several people sitting in it. Sakura was standing right next to him.

"You alright?" she asked him.

"Yeah, I think so. What happened?" he asked her.

"It was another gen-jutsu. It was just too strong for me to sense at first" Sakura explained. He looked around and saw Shino and Hinata standing there.

"What about you two?" he asked them.

"They can see through any gen-jutsu. Shino thanks to his bugs and Hinata thanks to her byakugan" Sakura answered for them.

"Akamaru" he then said and spun around, frantically looking for his dog. He was answered with a happy bark from Akamaru.

"I'm here" the large white dog barked at him. At the sight of his partner Kiba calmed down.

"Gen-jutsus often doesn't work on animals" Sakura explained.

"How did I get out?" he asked as he once again looked back at Sakura.

"I helped you out" she explained.

"Oh, thanks" he said.

"Yeah, thank your lucky star that you hadn't moved" Sakura said.

"What?" Kiba asked her.

"Well, the gen-jutsu made the trapped ones invisible, that was why Hinata and Shino weren't able to help us. I however knew that you were standing right next to me" Sakura explained.

"Oh, okay" Kiba answered.

"Are they invisible to everyone including the user or just to everybody except the user?" Sakura then suddenly asked as she turned away from him to three people sitting around a fake fire-place.

"Kurenai-sensei" she then added. To his surprise it was Kurenai sitting there with two other persons who he assumed was Sakura's parents. The man had reddish hair, slightly pink like Sakura's and his eyes were just as green as his daughter's. The woman on the other hand had black hair and dark eyes. It was quite obvious that she took after her father when it came to colors.

"The victims are invisible to all, including me" Kurenai answered Sakura's question.

"Hoped so since you didn't bring us out of it" Sakura said before turning to her parents.

"Mom, dad" she said, clearly relieved that they seemed fine.

"Sakura-chan" they said almost in chorus as they stood up and walked over to her, embracing her in a family hug.

"I was so worried" Sakura said.

"We're sorry" her father answered. Leaving the relieved family alone team eight walked over and sat down together with Kurenai.

"So, this was you mission?" Kiba asked her.

"Yes, I'm sorry but I couldn't tell anyone. It was quite confidential" Kurenai answered.

"I guess you are not allowed to tell what you were gathering information on?" Shino asked her.

"No, I'm not" Kurenai answered.

"Alright, what are we here to do?" Shino then asked her.

"You are here to pick up a scroll with information from us" Kurenai answered.

"Okay, where is this scroll?" Shino asked her.

"I've got it. You'll get it later" Kurenai answered.

"Alright" Shino said with a nod.

"Now, I presume that Sakura-san's the medic" Kurenai stated.

"Yes" Shino answered shortly.

"Good" was all Kurenai said before standing up.

"Sakura-san" she said as she neared the Harunos.

"Yes Kurenai-sensei?" Sakura said as she turned around towards Kurenai.

"It is your turn now" Kurenai said calmly.

"Hai, what am I to do?" Sakura asked her. Kiba noticed a sudden change in Sakura's aura. Suddenly she seemed far more confident and resolute.

"First of all you are to heal any minor injures we've got plus restoring our body's strength. After that comes the difficult part. We need you to prepare our body's to stay still for a longer time. Can you do that?" Kurenai asked her.

"Yes, I should be able to do that. I am however unsure for how long you will be able to stay still. How long to you need to?" Sakura asked her.

"I'm sorry, but I'm unable to answer that question" Kurenai answered.

"You're not allowed? Or don't you have any idea?" Sakura asked her.

"Both" Kurenai answered with a small smile.

"Okay, well I'll see what I can do. But first I'll restore your bodies" Sakura said. As Kiba watched her get to her part of this mission it became very clearly that she had entered a working mode. It was nothing like her usual self. Normally she would be quite loud and seem confident, still yet she was basically always anxious, something that never went unnoticed by Kiba and his special nose. Now however she was confident and it seemed as if she was incredibly comfortable with what she was doing. Kiba looked at her almost hypnotized as Hinata walked up to him unnoticed.

"I-it really seems as if she k-knows what she's d-doing" Hinata said. Kiba slightly jumped at her voice and turned to her.

"Hinata, I didn't notice you" he said as he breathed out. Hinata giggled a little and he was suddenly very aware of her presence. How hadn't he noticed her smell until now? During their latest tracking missions he had usually screwed up because he couldn't smell anything but her, this mission however he had barely noticed her until now.

"D-did you listen?" she asked him.

"Huh? No, I'm sorry I didn't hear you" Kiba said, suddenly aware that she had spoken to him.

"I said that it s-seems as if Sakura knows w-what she's doing" Hinata repeated herself.

"Yeah" Kiba answered before turning back to Sakura. When he did some of his concentration on Hinata disappeared, something that had been impossible earlier. Suddenly he understood, it was thanks to Sakura. Her presence relaxed him so much that he didn't notice Hinata. As he realized this he suddenly cherished his friendship with Sakura even more than before.

Just a few hours later Sakura was finished with the first part of her mission. Her parent's and Kurenai were now fully healed and their bodies restored. All that was left now was the hard part.

"I think I'll have to think for a while before I can do the second part" she told them.

"Okay, now could you make sure that the effects of your jutsu don't become noticeable until after a few hours?" Kurenai asked her.

"Yes, of course. I'll just use another jutsu that hinders the first jutsu for a while" Sakura answered.

"Good, then you can think about the jutsu until tomorrow morning" Kurenai answered her with a smile.

"Tomorrow morning?" Sakura asked.

"It's dusk" Shino said. Sakura turned to him.

"Already?" she asked him.

"Yeah, you've been working for several hours Princess" Kiba shot in from his spot on the ground.

"Guess I forgot the time totally" Sakura said a little sheepishly. Apparently she had exited her 'working mode'. Kiba could clearly smell that slightly anxious smell on her as she still yet seemed confident.

"You've done a good job. Now could you put us three to sleep until tomorrow morning when you are ready to do the jutsu? We want to stay this fresh until then" Kurenai asked her.

"Of course Kurenai-sensei. Just prepare your beds and lie down" Sakura answered. After a while they were ready to fall asleep. Sakura walked up to her mother.

"Good night mother" she said as she put her hands to her mother's temples.

"Good night honey" her mother managed to say before her eyelids fell and she was sleeping.

"Good night father" Sakura said as she sat down next to his form.

"Good night Sakura, I'm really proud of you" he said before she repeated the procedure with him. Then there was only Kurenai left.

"Se you tomorrow morning" she said before falling asleep.

After putting them to sleep Sakura walked over to sit down next to Kiba. They sat there and talked for a while before Hinata decided to go to sleep.

"G-good night guys" she said.

"Good night Hinata-chan" Sakura said, smiling up to the girl standing beside her.

"G'night" Kiba mumbled, feeling tense as he looked at Hinata. As usual when he was with Sakura he had a hard time sensing when Hinata was coming close. Since he didn't expect it when she spoke he always got tense from not having time to prepare himself of the Hyuuga girl's presence.

"By the way, how should we do with the watch?" He then asked as he realized that they hadn't discussed that yet.

"Don't worry Kiba-kun, the gen-jutsu's up so we don't have to worry too much about intruders" Sakura answered his question.

"Really? We can all sleep the entire night?" he asked her surprised.

"H-hai Kiba-kun. Shino-kun has placed some bugs at t-the entrance that will warn him in case s-somebody comes" Hinata answered his question before she walked over and went to sleep. Soon after her Shino also went to bed and Kiba and Sakura were the only ones still awake.

"You like being a medic, don't you?" Kiba asked her after a while of silence between the two of them. Sakura looked at him slightly surprised before she looked away from him and down at the ground. He wasn't entirely sure but Kiba thought that he could see how her cheeks turned slightly red.

"Yeah" she answered him in a low voice.

"It's really obvious" he told her with a smile "You looked really confident when you healed them. You seem really good at it" she looked up at him astonished.

"Really?" she asked him sounding anything but confident.

"Yeah" he answered.

"Well, I don't feel confident right now. I don't really know what to do with the jutsu until tomorrow morning" she said as she looked down at the ground again.

"I'm sure you'll figure something out. It is after all you we are talking about Sakura" he said with a smile, hoping to lift her confidence. Once more she looked up at him astonished again. Now he could clearly see that her cheeks had a red tint to them. He found himself thinking that she was really cute and he got lost as he looked at her. Without noticing it his gaze went from her gorgeous jade colored eyes down to her plump rosy lips. He just stared at them for a while before he slowly started to bend forward without noticing it. For some reason he just so much wanted to feel her lips on his own right then. Luckily she didn't resist but just sat there almost seeming anticipant to what was going to happen. Soon he felt her breath on his own mouth and was once more overcome by her sweet overwhelming scent of vanilla that clouded his senses and brainwork. He could almost feel her lips on his when Hinata suddenly turned in her sleep, mumbling something quietly. Kiba jerked back at the sound as he realized what he had almost done.

"I-I-I think I better sleep as well I'm feeling a little tired you know after searching the entire day taking a beating from you and then dealing with the whole gen-jutsu thingy" he told her all in one breath without really looking at her, instead he looked in other directions or laughed sheepishly with his eyes closed as soon as he turned towards her.

"Well, good night Sakura. You better sleep as well since you need to come up with that jutsu for tomorrow" he told her before crawling in to his sleeping bag, leaving Sakura sitting there. He could hear how she soon after him also crawled in to her sleeping-bag, and soon also how her breathing evened out and slowed down. What had he almost just done? Was he really going to kiss Sakura? Wasn't he in love with Hinata?

**A/N: Talk about anticlimax with the cliffy right? Felt as if though most of you were expecting something a little bit more shocking considering your reviews .. But I hope you enjoyed it anyway ^^**

**I'm sorry to say but it will probably take a while with the next chapter since I haven't finished it yet, and I don't really know the next step .. **


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